1 
1 



\ 



50th Thousand. 
THE 



Faith of Our Fathers: 



BEING A 



Plain Exposition and Yindication 



OF THE 



4|jtrtli '^mUd h ^^^ %<fti ^m$ iktki 

BY 

Rt. Rev. JAMES GIBBONS, D. D., 

Bishop of Richmond and Administratcr ApostoliG of Korth Carolina 

Tenth Revised Edition. 

BALTIMORE: 
Published by Joh^^" Murphy & Co. 

London: K. Washboubne. 
1879. 






Entered, according to Act or Congress, in the year 1876, by 

JOHN MURPHY, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congreso, at Wasningion. 






%m ai 1942 



TO THE 

Clergy and Laity of the Diocese of Eichmonb 
AND THE Vicariate of North Carolina. 



PREFACE. 

rilHE object of tliis little volume is to present, in 
a plain and practical form, an exposition an<l 
a vindication of the principal tenets of the Catholic 
Church. 

It was tliought sufficient to devote but a brief 
s})ace to such Catholic <1octrines and practices as are 
happily a^imitted by Protestants, while those which 
are controverted by them are more elaborately elu- 
cidated. 

The work was compiled by the author during the 
uncertain hours which he could spare from tne more 
active dunes of the mmisiry. 

It substantially embodies the instructions and dis- 
courses delivered by hira before mixed congrega- 
tions in Virginia and North Carolina. 

He has often felt that the salutary influence of 
such instructions, especially on the occasion of a 
mission in the rural districts, would be much aug- 
mented if they were supplemented by books or 
tracts which would be circulated afiioug the people, 
and could be read and pondered at leisure. 

As his chief aim has been to bring home the 



n PREFACE. 

truths of the Catholic faith to our separated breth- 
ren, who geuerally accept the Scripture as the ouly 
soiree of authority in religious matters, he has en- 
deavored to fortify his statements by abundant ref- 
erence to the sacred text. He has thought proper, 
however, to add frequent quotations from the early 
Fathers, whose testimony, at least as witnesses of the 
faith of their times, must be accepted even by those 
who call in question their personal authority. 

Though the writer has sought to be exact in all 
hi& assertions, an occasional inaccuracy may have 
inadvertently crept in. Any emendations which 
the venerated Prelates or Clergy may deign lo 
propose, will be gratefully attended to in a subse- 
quent edition. 

KiCHMOND. Nov. 21gt, 1876. 



CONTENTS. 

OBtAMTRR PAGH 

Introduction y 

I. The Blessed Trinity, the Incarnation, etc 17 

II. Unity of the Church 21 

III. Holiness of the Church 33 

IV. Catholicity 48 

V. Apostolicity 56 

VI. Perpetuity of the Church 69 

VII. Infallible Authority of the Church 82 

Vlll. The Church and the Bible 94 

IX. The Primacy of Peter 113 

X The Supremacy of the Pope 128 

XT. Infallibility of the Popes 140 

XII. Temporal Power of the Popes — How they ac- 
quired Temporal Power — Validity and Jus- 
tice of their Title — What the Popes have 

done for Rome 157 

XIII. Invocation of Saints 176 

XIV. Sacred Images 189 

XV. Purgatory, and Prayers for the Dead 204 

XVI. Civil and Religious Liberty 221 

XVII. Charges of Religious Persecution 241 

XVIII. Grace — The Sacraments — Original Sin — 
Baptism — Its Necessity — Its Eflects — 

Manner of Baptizing 260 

vii 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER f\n% 

XIX. The Sacrament of Confirniatiun '277 

XX. The Holy Eucharist 284 

XXI. Comrannion under One Kind 'J98 

XXII. The Sacrifice of the Mass 306 

^XIII. The Use of Religious Ceremonies Dictated 
by Right Reason — Approved by Almighty 
God in the Old Law — Sanctioned by Jesus 

Christ in the New 322 

XXIV. Ceremonies o^ the Mass — The Missal — Latin 
Language — Lights — Flowers — I ncense — 

Vestments 329 

XXV. The Sacrament of Penance 342 

XXVL Indulgences 384 

XXVII. Extreme Unction 394 

XXVIIl. The Priesthood 397 

XXIX. Celibacy of the Clergy 410 

XXX. Matrimony 121 



INTRODUCTION. 

MY DEAR READER.— Perhaps this is the first 
time in your life that you have handled a book 
in which the doctrines of the Catholic Church are 
expounded by one of her own sons. You have, no 
doubt, heard and read many things regarding our 
Church ; but has not your information come from 
teachers justly liable to suspicion ? You asked for 
bread and they gave you a stone. You asked for 
fish and they reached you a serpent. Instead of the 
bread of truth, they extended to you the serpent of 
falsehood. Hence, without intending to be unjust, 
is not your mind biased against us because you 
listened to false witnesses? This, at least, is the 
case with thousands of my countrymen whom I have 
met in the brief course of my missionary career. 
The Catholic Church is persistently misrepresented 
by the most powerful vehicles of information. 

She is attacked in romances of the stamp of Mari^ 
Monk; in pictorials, like Harper's ; in histories, so 
called like those of Peter Parley. In a large por- 
tion of the press, and in pamphlets, and especially 
in the pulpit, which should be consecrated to truth 
and charity, she is the victim of the foulest slanders. 

9 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

Upon her fair and heavenly brow her enemies put 
a hideous mask, and in that guise they exhibit her 
to the insults and mockery of the public ; just as 
Jesus, her spouse, was treated when He was clothed 
with a scarlet cloak and crowned with thorns, and, 
thus disfigured, was mocked by a thoughtless rabble. 
They are afraid to tell the truth of her, for 

" Truth has such a face and such a mien 
As to be loved needs only to he seen." ^ 

It is not uncommon for a dialogue like the fol- 
lowing to take place between a Protestant Minister 
and a convert to the Catholic Church. 

Minister. — You cannot deny that the Roman 
Catholic Church teaches gross errors, — the worship 
of images, for instance. 

Convert. — I admit no such charge, for I have 
been taught no such doctrines. 

Minister. — But the priest who instructed you, 
did not teach you all. He held back some points 
which he knew would be objectionable to you. 

Convert. — He withheld nothing; for I am in 
possession of books treating fully of all Catholic 
doctrines. 

Minister. — Deluded soul! Don't you know that 
in Europe they are taught differently? 

^ Dryden. — Hind and Panther. 



I N T E D U C T I O xV. 11 

Convert. — That cannot be, for, the Church 
teaches the same creed all over the world, and . 
most of the doctrinal books which I read, were 
originally published in Europe. 

Yel ministers who make these slanderous state- 
ments are surprised if we feel indignant, and accuse 
us of being too sensitive. We have been vilified so 
long, that they think we have no right to complain. 

We cannot exaggerate the offence of those who 
thus wilfully malign the Church. There is a com- 
mandment which says : " Thou shall not bear false 
witness against thy neighbor.'* 

If it is a sin to bear false testimony against one 
individual, how can we characterize the crime of 
those who calumniate two hundred and twenty-five 
millions of human beings, by attributing to them doc- 
trines and practices which they repudiate and abhor ? 

I do not wonder that the Church is hated by 
those who learn what she is, from her enemies. It 
is natural for an honest man to loathe an institution 
whose history he believes to be marked by blood- 
shed, crime, and fraud. 

Had I been educated as they were, and surrounded 
by an atmosphere hostile to the Church, perhaps 1 
should be unfortunate enough to be breathing ven- 
treanee against her to-day, instead of const 'cratiniJ 
?iiv lite to her defenr»^.. 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

It is not of their hostility that 1 complain, but 
oecause the judgment they have formed of her is 
based upon the reckless assertions of her enemies, 
and not upon those of impartial witnesses. 

Suppose that I wanted to obtain a correct estimate 
of the Southern people, would it be fair in me to 
select, as my only sources of information, certain 
Northern and Eastern periodicals which, during our 
civil war, were bitterly opposed to the race and 
institutions of the South? Those papers have 
represented you as men who always appeal to ihe 
sword and pistol, instead of the law, to vindicate 
your private grievances. They heaped accusations 
against you which I will not here repeat. 

Instead of taking these publications as the basis 
of my information, it was my duty to come among 
yc '1 ; to live with you ; to read your lives by study- 
ing your public and private character. This I have 
done, and I here cheerfully bear witness to your 
many excellent traits of mind and heart. 

Now I ask you to give to the Catholic Church 
the same measure of fairaess which you reasonably 
demand of me when judging of Southern character. 
Ask not her enemies what she is, for tbey are blinded 
by passion ; ask not her ungrateful, renegade chil- 
dren ; for you never heard a son speaking well of 
the mother whom he had abandoned and despised. 



INTRODUCTION. 18 

Study her history in the pages of truth. Ex- 
amine her creed. Read her authorized catechism? 
and doctrinal books. You will find them every- 
where on the shelves of booksellers, in the libraiie^ 
of her clergy, on the tables of Catholic families. 

There is no Freemasonry in the Catholic Church 
she has no secrets to keep back. She has not on< 
set of doctrines for Bishops and Priests, and anothej 
for the laity. She has not one creed for the initi 
ated and another for outsiders. Everything in th« 
Catholic Church is open and above board. She 
has the same doctrines for all — for the Pope and 
the peasant. 

Should not I be better qualified to present to you 
the Church's creed than the unfriendly witnesses 
whom I have mentioned ? 

I have imbibed her doctrine with my mother's 
milk. I have made her history and theology the 
study of my life. What motive can I have in mis- 
leading you ? Not temporal reward, since I seek not 
your money, but your soul, for which Jesus Christ 
died. I could not hope for an eternal reward by 
deceiving you, fori would thereby purchase for my- 
self eternal condemnation, by gaining proselytes at 
the expense of truth. 

This, friendly reader, is my only motive. I feel. 
in the depth of my heart, that, in possessing Catholic 
2 



114 INTRODUCTION. 

faith, I hold a treasure compared with which all 
: things earthly are but dross. Instead of wishing to 
sbury this treasure in my breast, I long to share it 
with you, especially as I lose no part of my spiritual 
riches by communicating them to others. 

It is to me a duty and a labor of love to speak the 
truth concerning my venerable Mother, especially 
as she is so much maligned in our days. Were 
a tithe of the accusations true which are brought 
against her, I would not be attached to her ministry, 
nor even to her communion, for a single day. I 
know these charges to be false- The longer I know 
her, the more I admire and venerate her. Every 
■ day she develops before me new spiritual charms. 

Ah ! my dear friend, if you saw her as her 
children see her, she would no longer appear to you 
as typified by the woman of Babylon, but she would 
be revealed to you, " Bright as the sun, fair as the 
moon;" with the beauty of heaven stamped upon 
her brow, glorious "as an army in battle array." 
You would love her, you would cling to her and 
embrace her. With her children, you would rise up 
in reverence " and call her blessed." 

Consider what you lose and what you gain m 
'embracing the Catholic religion. 

Your loss is nothing in comparison with your gain, 
^ou do not surrender your manhood or your dignity 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

or independence or reasoning powers. You give up 
none of those revealed truths which you may possess 
already. The only restraint imposed upon you is 
the restraint of the Gospel, and to this you will not 
reasonably object. 

You gain everything that is worth having. You 
acquire a full and connected knowledge of God's 
revelation. You get possession of the whole truth 
as it is in Jesus. You no longer see it in fragments, 
but reflected before you in all its beauty, as in a pol- 
ished mirror. Your knowledge of the truth is not 
only complete and harmonious, but it becomes fixed 
and steady. You exchange opinion for certainty. 
You are no longer " tossed about by every wind of 
doctrine," but you are firmly grounded on the rock 
of truth. Then you enjoy that profound peace which 
springs from the conscious possession of the truth. 

And in coming to the Church, you are not enter- 
ing a strange place, but you are returning to your 
Father's home. The house and furniture may look 
odd to you. But it is just the same as your fore- 
fathers left it three hundred years ago. In comiDg 
back to the Church, you worship where your fathers 
worshipped before you; you kneel before the altai 
at which they knelt; you receive the Sacraments 
which they received, and respect the authority of 
the clergy whom they venerated. You come back 
Hke the Prodigal Son to the home of your Father 



i6 INTRODUCTION. 

and Mother, aiid the garment of joy is placed iipoD 
you, and the banquet of love is set before you, and 
you receive the kiss of peace as a pledge of youi 
filiation and adoption. One hearty embrace of youi 
tender Mother will compensate you for all the 
sacrifices you may have made, and you will exclaim 
with the penitent Augustine : " Too late have 1 
known thee, O Beauty, ever ancient and ever new ; 
too late have I loved thee." 

Should the perusal of this book bring one soul 
to the knowledge of the Church, my labor will be 
amply rewarded. 

Remember that nothing is so essential as the 
salvation of your immortal soul ; " for what doth it 
profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his 
own soul ? Or w^hat shall a man give in exchange 
for his soul ? " ^ Let not, therefore, the fear of offend- 
ing friends and relatives, nor the persecution of men, 
nor the loss of earthly possessions, nor any other 
temporal calamity, deter you from investigating and 
embracing the true religion. " For our present 
tribulation, which is momentary and light, worketh 
for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight 
'jf glory.'* ^ 

May God give you light to see the truth, and, 
having seen it, may He give you courage and 
strength to follow it. 

UlaU. xvi. 26. 2 II. Cor. iy. 17. 



THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE BLESSED TRINITY, THE INCARNATION, EMC. 

THE Catholic Church teaches that there is but 
one God, who is infinite in knowledge, in power, 
in goodness, and in every other perfection ; wh i 
created all things by His omnipotence, and governs 
them by His Providence. 

In this one God there are three distinct Persons. 
— the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, who are 
perfectly equal to each other. 

We believe that Jesus Christ, the Second Per- 
son of the Blessed Trinity, is perfect God and per- 
fect Man. He is God, for He " is over all things, 
God blessed forever."^ "He is God of the sub- 
stance of the Father, begotten before time; and 
He is Man of the substance of His Mother, born 
in time." ^ Out of love for us, and in order to 
rescue us from the miseries entailed upon us by 
the disobedience of our first parents, the Divine 
Word descended from heaven, and became Man 
in the womb of the Virgin Mary, by the opera- 
tion of the Holy Ghost. He w^as born on Christ- 
mas day, in a stable at Bethlehem. 

After having led a life of obscurity for aboui 

^ Rom. ix. 5. ' Athanasian Creed. 

2* W i7 . 



18 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHEES. 

thirty years, chiefly at Nazareth, He commenced 
His public career. He associated with Him a 
unmber of men who are named Apostles, whom He 
instructed in the doctrines of the religion which He 
established. 

For three years, He went about doing good, giv- 
ing sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, heal- 
ing all kinds of diseases, raising the dead to life, 
and preaching throughout Judea the new Gospel of 
peace. ^ 

On Good Friday, He was crucified on Mount 
Calvary, and thus purchased for us redemption by 
His death. Hence Jesus exclusively bears the 
titles of Saviour and Redeemer, because " there is 
no other name under heaven given to men whereby 
we must be saved." ^ "He was wounded for our 
iniquities ; He was bruised for our sins, . . . and by 
His bruises we are healed." ^ 

AVe are commanded, by Jesus, suffering and dying 
for us, to imitate Him by the crucifixion of our flesh, 
and by acts of daily mortification. " If any one," He 
says, " will come after Me, let him deny himself, and 
take up his cross daily and follow Me/^ * 

Hence we abstain from the use of flesh meat on 
Friday, — the day consecrated to our Saviour's suf- 
ferings, — not because the eating of flesh meat is sin- 
ful in itself, but as an act of salutary mortification. 
L)viug children would be prompted by filial ten- 
derness to commemorate the anniversary of their 



' :Matt. xi. 2 Xqi^ iv. 12. ^ Isaiah liii. 5 * Luke ix. 23. 



THE TRINITY. 19 

father's death rather by prayer and fasting than by 
feasting. Even so we abstain on Fridays from flesh 
meat, that we may in a small measure testify our 
practical sympathy for our dear Lord by the morti- 
fication of our body, endeavoring, like St. Paul, " to 
bear about in our body the mortification of Jesus, 
that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in 
our bodies."^ 

The Cross is held in the highest reverence by 
Catholics, because it was the instrument of our 
Saviour's crucifixion. It surmounts our churches 
and adorns our sanctuaries. We venerate it as the 
emblem of our salvation. " Far be it from me," says 
the Apostle, ^' to glory save in the cross of our Lord 
Jesus Christ." ^ We do not, of course, attach any 
intrinsic virtue to the Cross ; this would be sinful and 
idolatrous. Our veneration is referred to Him w^ho 
died upon it. 

It is also a very ancient and pious practice for the 
faithful to make on their person the sign of the 
Cross, saying at the same time : " In the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 
Tertuilian, who lived in the second century of the 
Christian era, says : " In all our actions, when we 
come in or go out, w^hen we dress, when we wash, 
at our meals, before retiring to sleep, . . . we form 
on our foreheads the sign of the cross. These prac- 
tices are not commanded by a formal law of Scrip- 
ture ; but tradition teaches them, custom confirms 



* 11. Cor. iv. 10. ^ Gal. vi. 14. 



20 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

them, faith observes them."^ By the sign of thi 
cross we make a profession of our faith in the Trinity 
and the Incarnation, and perform a most salutary 
act of religion. 

We believe that on Easter Sunday Jesus Christ 
manifested His divine power by raising Himself to 
life, and that having spent forty days on earth, after 
His resurrection, instructing His disciples, He as- 
cended to heaven from the Mount of Olives. 

On tlie Feast of Pentecost, or Whitsunday, ten 
days after His Ascension, our Saviour sent, as He 
had promised. His Holy Spirit to His disciples, 
while they were assembled together in prayer. The 
Holy Ghost purified their hearts from sin, and im- 
parted to them a full knowledge of those doctrines 
of salvation which they were instructed to preach. 
On the same Feast of Pentecost the Apostles com- 
menced their sublime mission, from which day, ac- 
cordingly, we date the active life of the Catholic 
Church. 

Our Redeemer gave the most ample authority to 
the Apostles to teach in His name ; commanding 
them to " preach the Gospel to every creature," ^ 
and directing all, under the most severe penalties, 
to hear and obey them : " He that heareth you, 
hearoth Me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth 
Me And he that despiseth Me, despiseth Him that 
sent Me." ' 

And lest we should be mistaken in distinguishing 

* De Corona, C. iii. ^ Mark xvi. 15. ^ Luke x. 16. 



UNITY OF TJIE CHURCH. 21 

between the true Church and false sects, which our 
Lord predicted would arise, He was pleased to 
itamp upon His Church certain shining marks, by 
*vhich every sincere inquirer could easily recognize 
ner as His only Spouse. The principal marks jr 
characteristics of the true Church are, her Unity, 
Sanctity, Catholicity, and Apostolicity,^ to which 
may be added the Infallibility of her teaching and 
the Perpetuity of her existence. 

I shall treat successively of these marks. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 

BY unity is meant that the members of the true 
Church must be united in the belief of the same 
doctrines of revelation, and in the acknowledgment 
of the authority of the same pastors. Heresy and 
schism are opposed to Christian unity. By heresy, 
a man rejects one or more articles of the Christian 
faith. By schism, he spurns the authority of his 
spiritual superiors. That our Saviour requires this 
unity of faith and government in His members, is 
evident from various passages of Holy Writ. In 
His admirable prayer immediately before His pas- 
sion. He says : " I pray for them also who through 

^ Symb. Constantinop. 



22 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

their word shall believe in Me ; that they all may be 
one, as Thou, Father, in Me and I in Thee, that they 
► also may be one in Us ; that the world may believe 
that Thou hast sent Me."^ Here Jesus prayed that 
His followers may be united in the bond of a com- 
mon faith, as He and His Father are united in es- 
sence, and certainly the prayer of Jesus is always 
heard. 

St. Paul ranks schism and heresy w^th the crimes 
of murder and idolatry, and he declares that the 
authors of sects shall not possess the kingdom of 
God.^ In his epistle to the Ephesians, he insists 
upon unity of faith in the following emphatic lan- 
guage : " Be careful to keep the unity of the Spirit 
in the bond of peace ; one body and one Spirit, as you 
are called in one hope of your calling ; one Lord, 
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, 
who is above all, and through all, and in us all." ^ 
As you all, he says, worship one God, and not many 
Gods ; as you acknowledge the same divine Medi- 
ator of redemption, and not many mediators ; as 
you are sanctified by the same divine Spirit, and 
not by many spirits ; as you all hope for the same 
heaven, and not different heavens, so must you all 
profess the same faith. 

Unity of government is not less essential to the 
Church of Christ than unity of doctrine. Our 
divine Saviour never speaks of His Churches, but 
of His Church. He does not say : " Upon this rock 

' John xvii. 20, 21. ^ Qal. v. 20, 21. ^ Ephes. iv. 3-6. 



nXFTY OF THE CHURCH. 23 

I will build my Churches," but, "Upon this rock I 
will build my Church,"^ from which words we must 
conclude, that it never was His intention to establish 
or to sanction various conflicting denominations, but 
one corporate body, with all the members united 
under one visible Head ; for as the Church is a visi- 
ble body, it must have a visible head. 

The Church is called a kingdom : " He shall 
reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His 
kingdom there shall be no end." ^ Now in every 
well-regulated kingdom there is but 07ie king, one 
form of government, one uniform body of laws, which 
all are obliged to observe. In like manner, in 
Christ's spiritual kingdom, there must be one Chief 
to whom all owe spiritual allegiance ; one form of 
ecclesiastical government ; one uniform body of laws 
which all Christians are bound to observe ; for, 
" every kingdom divided against itself shall be 
made desolate." ^ 

Our Saviour calls His Church a sheepfold. " And 
there shall be made one fold and one shepherd."* 
What more beautiful or fitting illustration of unity 
can we have than that which is suggested by a 
sheepfold? All the sheep of a flock cling together. 
If they are momentarily separated, they are im- 
patient till reunited. They follow in the same path. 
They obey the same shepherd, and fly froin the 
voice of strangers. So did our Lord intend that all 

1 Matt. xvi. 18. 2 L^ije ^ 32^ 33. s Matt. xii. 25. 

* John X. 16. 



24 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

the sheep of His fold should be nourished by tJie 
same sacraments and the same bread of life; that 
they should follow the same rule of faith as their 
guide to heaven ; that they should listen to trie 
voice of one Chief Pastor, and that they should 
carefully shun false teachers. 

He compares His Church to a human body. In 
one body there are many members, all inseparably 
connected with the head. The head commands and 
the foot instantly moves, the hand is raised and the 
lips open. Even so our Lord ordained that His 
Church, composed of many members, should be all 
united to one supreme visible Head, whom they are 
bound to obey. 

He compares His Church to a vine, all whose 
branches, though spreading far and wide, are ne- 
cessarily connected with the main stem, and from 
its sap they are nourished. In like manner, our 
Saviour will have all the saplings of His Vineyard 
connected with the main stem, and all draw their 
nourishment from the parent stock. 

The Church, in fine, is called in Scripture by 
the beautiful title of bride or spouse of Christ,^ and 
the Christian law admits only of one wife. 

In fact, our common sense alone, apart from 
revelation, is sufficient to convince us that God 
could not be the author of various opposing systems 
»>f religion. God is essentially one. He is Truth 
Itself. How could the God of truth affirm, for in- 

^ Apoc. xxi. 9. 



UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 26 

Stance, to one body of Christians that there are 
three Persons in God, and to another that there is 
only one Person in God ? How couhl He say to 
one individual that Jesus Christ is God, and to 
another that He is only man. How can He tell 
me that the punishments of the wicked are eternal, 
and tell another that they are not eternal ? One 
of these contradictory statements must be felse. 
" God is not the God of dissension, but of peace." ^ 

Hence, it is clear that Jesus Christ intended that 
His Church should have one common doctrine w^hich 
all Christians are bound to believe, and one uniform 
government to which all should be loyally attached. 

With all due respect for my dissenting brethren, 
truth compels me to say that this unity of doctrine 
and government is not to be found in the Protestant 
sects, taken collectively or separately. That the 
various Protestant denominations differ from one 
another not only in minor details, but in most 
essential principles of faith, is evident to every one 
conversant with the doctrines of the different Creeds. 
The multiplicity of sects in this country, with their 
mutual recriminations, is the scandal of Christianity, 
and the greatest obstacle to the conversion of the 
heathen. Not only does sect differ from sect, but 
each particular denomination is divided into two 
or more independent or conflicting branches. 

In the State of North Carolina, we have several 
Baptist denominations, each having its own dis- 

i I. Cor. xiv. 33. 



26 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

tinctive appellation. There is also the Methodist 
Church North and the Methodist Church South. 
There was the Old and the New School Presbyterian 
Church. And even in the Episcopal Communion, 
v^hich is the most conservative body outside the 
(Catholic Church, there is the ritualistic, or high 
church, and the low church. Nay, if you question 
closely the individual members composing aay one 
fraction of these denominations, you will not rarely 
find them giving a contradictory view of their tenets 
of religion. 

Protestants differ from one another not only in 
doctrine, but in the form of ecclesiastical govern- 
ment and discipline. The church of England ac- 
knowledges the reigning Sovereign as its Spiritual 
Head. Some denominations recognize Deacons, 
Priests, and Bishops as an essential part of their 
hierarchy ; while the great majority of Protestants 
reject such titles altogether. 

Where, then, shall w^e find this essential unity of 
faith and government? I answer, confidently, no^ 
where save in the Catholic Church. 

The number of Catholics in the world is computed 
at two hundred and twenty-five millions. They haye 
all " one Lord, one faith, one baptism," one creed 
They receive the same sacraments, they worship at 
the same altar, and pay spiritual allegiance to one 
common Head. Should a Catholic be so unfortu- 
nate as contumaciously to deny a single article 
of faith, or withdraw from the communion of ]\h> 



UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 27 

legitimate pastors, he ceases to be a member jF the 
Church, and is cut off like a withered branch. The 
Church had rather sever her right hand than allow 
any member to corrode her vitals. It was thus she 
excommunicated Henry VIII. because he persisted 
in violating the sacred law of marriage, although 
she foresaw that the lustful monarch w^ould involve 
a nation in his spiritual ruin. She anathematized, 
more recently, Dr. Dollinger, though the prestige of 
his name threatened to engeuder a schism in Ger- 
many. She says to her children : *' You may es- 
pouse any political party you choose ; w^ith this I 
have no concern." But as soon as they trench on 
matters of faith, she cries out : " Hitherto thou shalt 
come, and shalt go no farther ; and here thou shalt 
break thy swelling waves '' ^ of discord. The tem- 
ple of faith is the asylum of peace, concord, and 
unity. 

How sublime and consoling is the thought, that 
whithersoever a Catholic goes over the broad world, 
whether he enters his Church in Pekin or in Mel- 
bourne, in London, or Dublin, or Paris, or Rome, or 
New York, or San Francisco, he is sure to hear the 
self-same doctrine preached, to assist at the same sac- 
rifice, and to partake of the same sacraments. 

This is not all. Her Creed is now identical with 
what it was in past ages. The same Gospel of peace 
that Jesus Christ preached on the Mount ; the same 
doctrine that St. Peter preached at Antioch and 



^ Job xxxviii. 11. 



Z» THE FAITH OF OUE FATHERS. 

Koine; St. Paul at Ephesus ; St. John Chrysostom 
at Constantinople ; St. Augustine in Hippo ; St. Am- 
brose in Milan ; St. Remigius in France ; St. Boni- 
face in Germany ; St. Athanasius in Alexandria ; 
the same doctrine that St. Patrick introduced into 
Ireland; that St. Augustine brought into England, 
and St. Pelagius into Scotland, is ever preached in 
the Catholic Church throughout the globe, from 
January till December — " Jesus Christ yesterday, 
and to-day, and the same forever." ^ 

The same admirable unity that exists in matters 
of faith, is also established in the government of the 
Church. All the members of the vast body of Cath- 
olic Christians are as intimately united to one visi- 
ble Chief as the members of the human body are 
joined to the head. The faithful of each parish 
are subject to their immediate Pastor. Each Pastor 
is subordinate to his Bishop, and each Bishop of 
Christendom acknowledges the jurisdiction of the 
Bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter, and 
Head of the Catholic Church. 

But it may be asked, is not this unity of faith 
impaired by those doctrinal definitions which the 
Church has promulgated from time to time? We 
answer : Ko new dogma, unknown to the Apostles, 
not contained in the primitive Christian revelation, 
can be admitted. (John xiv. 26 : xv. 15 ; xvi. 13.) 
For the Apostles received the whole deposit of God's 
word, according to the promise of our Lord: "When 

^ 1 Heb. xiii. 8. 



UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 29 

He shall come, the Spirit of truth, He shall tea^^b 
you all truth." And so the Church proposes the 
doctrines of faith, such as they came from the lips 
of Christ, and as the Holy Spirit taught them to the 
Apostles at the birth of the Christian law — doctrineg 
which know neither variation nor decay. 

Hence, whenever it has been defined that any 
point of doctrine pertained to the Catholic faith, it 
was always understood that this was equivalent to 
the declaration that the doctrine in question had 
been revealed to the Apostles, and had come down to 
us from them, either by Scripture or tradition. And 
as the acts of all the Councils, and the history of 
every definition of faith evidently show, it was 
never contended that a new revelation had been 
made, but every inquiry was directed to this one 
point — whether the doctrine in question was con- 
tained in the Sacred Scriptures or in the Apostolic 
traditions. 

A reveaied truth frequently has a very extensive 
scope, and is directed against error under its many 
changing forms. Nor is it necessary that those who 
receive this revelation in the first instance, should be 
explicitly acquainted with its full import, or cogni- 
zant of all its bearings. Truth never changes ; it is 
the same now, yesterday, and forever, in itself; but 
our relations towards truth may change, for that 
which is hidden from us to-day may become known 
to us to-morrow. " It often happens," says St. Au- 
gustine, *' that when it becomes necessary to defend 
3^ 



f50 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

certain points of Catholic doctrine against the insid- 
ious attacks of heretics, they are more carefullv 
studied, they become more clearly understood, they 
are more earnestly inculcated ; and so the very ques- 
tions raised by heretics give occasion to a more thor- 
ough knowledge of the subject in question."^ 

Let us illustrate this. In the Apostolic revelation 
and preaching, some truths might have been con- 
tained implicitly, e. g., in the doctrine that grace is 
necessary for every salutary work, it is implicitly 
asserted that the assistance of grace is required for 
the inception of every good and salutary work. 
This was denied by the semi-Pelagians, and their 
error w^as condemned by an explicit definition. And 
so in other matters, as the rising controversies or 
Qew errors gave occasion for it, there were more 
explicit declarations of what was formerly implicitly 
believed. In the doctrine of the supreme power of 
Peter, as the visible foundation of the Church, we 
nave the implied assertion of many rights and duties 
which belong to the centre of unity. In the revela- 
tion of the supereminent dignity and purity of the 
Blessed Virgin, there is implied her exemption from 
original sin, etc., etc. 

So, too, in the beginning, many truths might have 
been proposed somewhat obscurely or less clearly; 
tliey might have been less urgently insisted upon, 
because there was no heresy, no contrary teaching 
to render a more explicit declaration necessary. 
^ De Civitate Dei, Lib. 16, Cap. ii., No. 1. 



UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 81 

Now, a doctiiue which is implicitly, less clearly, not 
so earnestly proposed, raay be overlooked, misunder- 
stood, called in question ; consequently, it may hap- 
pen that some articles are now universally believed 
in the Church, in regard to which doubts and con- 
troversies existed in former ages, even \\ithin tho 
bosom of the Church. *' Those who err in belief 
do but serve to bring out more clearly the sound 
ness of those who believe rightly. For there are 
many things which lay hidden in the Scriptures, and 
when heretics were cut off, they vexed the Church 
of God with disputes ; then the hidden things were 
brought to light, and the will ot God wai^ made 
known." (St. Augustine on the 54th Psalm, Xo. 
22.) _ 

This kind of progress in faith we can and do ad- 
mit ; but the truth is not changed thereby. As 
Albertus Magnus says : ^' It w^ould be more correct 
to style this the progress of the believer in the faith, 
than of the faith in the believer." 

To show that this kind of progress is to be ad- 
mitted, only two things are to be proved: 1. That 
some divinely revealed truths should be contained 
in the Apostolic teaching impAicitly, less clearly ex- 
plained, less urgenily pressed. And this can be de- 
nied only by those who hold that the Bible is the 
only rule of Faith, that it is clear in every part, and 
could be readily understood by all from the be- 
ginning. This point I shall consider farther od ^d 
this work. 2. That the Church can, in process of 



32 THE FAITH OF OUK FATHEKS. 

time, as occasions arise, declare, explain, urge. This 
is proved not only from the Scriptures and the 
Fathers, but even from the conduct of Protestants 
themselves, who often boast of the care and assiduity 
with which they " search the Scriptures," and study 
out their meaning, even now that so many Commen- 
taries on the sacred Text have been published. And 
why ? To obtain more light ; to understand better 
what is revealed. It would appear from this that 
the only question which could arise on this point is, 
not about the possibility of arriving by degrees at a 
clearer understanding of the true sense of revelation, 
as circumstances may call for successive develop- 
ments, but about the authority of the Church to 
propose and to determine that sense. So that, after 
all, we are always brought back to the only real 
point of division and dispute between those who are 
not Catholics and ourselves, namely, to the authority 
of the Church, of which I shall have more to say 
hereafter. I cannot conclude better than by quoting 
the words of St. Vincent of Lerins : " Let us take 
care that it be with us in matters of religion, which 
affect our souls, as it is with material bodies, which, 
as time goes on, pass through successive phases of 
growth and development, and multiply their years, 
but yet remain always the same individual bodies as 
they were in the beginning. ... It very properly 
follows from the nature of things that, with a perfect 
agreement and consistency between the beginnings 
and the final results, when we reap the harvest of 



HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. 38 

dogmatic truth which has sprung from the seeds of 
doctrine sown in tlie spring-time of the Church's 
existence, we should find no substantial difference 
between the grain which was first planted and that 
which w^e now gather. For though the germs of 
the early faith have in some respects been evolved, 
in the course of time, and still receive nourishment 
and culture, yet nothing in them that is substantial 
can ever suffer change. The Church of Christ is a 
faithful and ever watchful guardian of the dogmas 
which have been committed to her charge. In this 
sacred deposit she changes nothing, she takes 
nothing from it, she adds nothing to it." 



CHAPTER III. 

THE HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. 

HOLINESS is also a mark of the true Church ; 
for in the Creed we say, " I believe in the holy 
Catholic Church." 

Every society is founded for a special object. 
One society is formed wdth the view of cultivating 
social intercourse among its members ; a second is 
organized to advance their temporal interests ; and 
a third, for the purpose of promoting literary pur 
suits. Tiie Catholic Church is a society founded by 
our Lord Jesus Christ for the sanctification of its 
members; hence, St. Peter calls the Christians of 

C 



34 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

his time " a chosen generation, e royal priesthood, 
a holy nation, a purchased people " ^ 

The example of our divine Founder, Jesus Qirist, 
tlie sublime moral lessons He has taught us, the 
Sacraments He has instituted — all tend to our 
sanctification. They all concentre themselves in 
our soul, like so many heavenly rays, to enlighten 
and inflame it with the fire of devotion. 

When the Church speaks to us of the attributes 
of our Lord, of His justice and mercy and sanctity 
and truth, her object is not merely to extol the 
divine perfections, but also to exhort us to imitate 
them, and to be like Him, just and merciful, holy 
and truthful. Behold the sublime Model that is 
placed before us! It is not man, nor angel, nor 
archangel, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, " who 
is the brightness of His glory, and the figure of His 
substance." '^ The Church places His image over 
our altars, admonishing us to " look and do accord- 
ing to the pattern shown on the mount.'' * And from 
that height He seems to say to us : " Be ye holy, for I 
the Lord your God am holy." ^ " Be ye perfect, even 
as your heavenly Father is perfect."* "Be ye iol- 
lowers of God as most dear children."* 

We are invited to lead holy lives, not only be- 
cause our divine Founder, Jesus Christ, was holy^ 
but also because we bear His sweet and venerable 
Qame. We are called Christians. That is a name 

* I. Pet. ii. 9. 2 Heb. i. 3. 3 Exod. xxv. 40. 

* Lev. xix. 2. » ^att. v. 48. « Eph. v. 1. 



HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. 85 

we would not exchange for all the high-sounding 
titles of Prince or Emperor. We are justly proud 
of this appellation of Christian; but we are reminded 
that it has annexed to it a corresponding obligation. 
It is not an idle name, but one full of solemn signifi- 
cance ; for a Christian, as the very name implies, k 
a follower or disciple of Christ — one who walks In 
the footsteps of His Master by observing His pre- 
cepts ; who reproduces in his own life the character 
and virtues of his divine Model. In a word, a Chris- 
tian is another Christ. It would, therefore, be a con- 
tradiction in terms, if a Christian had nothing in 
common with his Lord except the name. Thr) dis- 
ciple should imitate his Master, the soldier should 
imitate his Commander, and the members should be 
like the Head. 

The Church constantly allures her children to holi- 
ness by placing before their minds the Incarna- 
tion, life and death of our Saviour. What appeal^i 
more forcibly to a life of piety than the contempla- 
tion of Jesus born in a stable, living an humble life 
in Nazareth, dying on a cross, that His blood might 
purify us ! If He sent forth Apostles to preach the 
Gospel to the whole world ; if in His name temples 
are built in every nation, and missionaries are sent 
to the extremities of the globe, all this is done that 
we may ]je saints. God, says St. Paul, "gave some 
Apostles, and some Prophets, and others Evangel- 
ists, and others Pastors and Doctors, for the perfect- 
ing of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for 



H(y THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

the building up of the body of Christ, until we all 
meet unto the unity of faith and of the knowledge 
of the Son of God unto a perfect man.'' * 

The moral law which the Catholic Church incul- 
cates on her children, is the highest and holiest 
standard of perfection ever presented to any people, 
and furnishes the strongest incentives to virtue. 

The same divine precepts delivered through Moses 
to the Jews, on Mount Sinai, the same salutary warn- 
ings which the prophets uttered throughout Judea, 
the same sublime and consoling lessons of morality 
which Jesus gave on the Mount, these are the lessons 
which the Church teaches from January till Decem- 
ber. The Catholic preacher does not amuse his au- 
dience with speculative topics or political harangues, 
or any other subjects of a transitory nature. He 
preaches only " Christ, and Him crucified." 

This code of divine precepts is enforced with as 
much zeal by the Church as was the Decalogue of 
old by Moses, when he said : " These words, which I 
command thee this day, shall be in thy heart ; and 
thou shalt tell them to thy children ; and thou shalt 
meditate upon them, sitting in thy house, and walk- 
ing on thy journey, sleeping, and rising." ^ 

The first lesson taught to children in our Sunday- 
schools is their duty to know, love, and serve God, 
and thus to be saints ; for if they know, love, and 
serve God aright, they shall be saints indeed. Theij 
tender minds are instructed in this great truth that 

» Ephes. iv. 11-13. ^ Dent. vi. 6, 7. 



HOLINESS OF THE CnURCH. 3? 

though they >ad the riches of Dives, and the glory 

and pleasures of Solomon, and yet fail to be saints, 
they have missed their vocation, and are " wretched. 
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." ' 
" For, what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole 
world and lose his own soul ? " '^ On the contrary 
though they are as poor as Lazarus, and as miser 
able as Job in the days of his adversity, they aie 
assured that their condition is a happy one in the 
sight of God, if they live up to the maxims of the 
Gospel. 

The Church quickens the zeal of her children for 
holiness of life by impressing on their minds the 
rigor of God's judgments, who **will bring to light 
the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest 
the counsels of the hearts,'' by reminding them of 
the terrors of Hell and of the sweet joys of Heaven. 

Not only are Catholics instructed in church on 
Sundays, but they are exhorted to peruse the Word 
of God, and manuals of devotion, at home. The 
saints whose lives are there recorded, serve like 
bright stars to guide them over the stormy ocean oi 
life to the shores of eternity ; while the history of 
those who have fallen from grace, stands like a bea 
con light, warning them to shun the rocks agaias^ 
svhich a Solomon and a Judas made shipwreck of 
their souls. 

Our books of piety are adapted to every want of 
the human soul, and are a fruitful source of sanctifi 

* Apoc. iii. 7. * Matt. xyi. 2« 

4- 



38 THE FAITH CF OUR FATHERS. 

•cation. Who can read without spiritual profit such 
works ns the almost inspired Following of Chrkt, by 
Thomas a Kempis ; the Christian Perfection of Rod- 
riguez : the Spiritual Combat of Scupoli ; the writings 
of St. Francis de Sales, and a countless host of other 
ascetical authors ? 

You will search in vain outside the Catholic 
Church for writers comparable in unction and 
-healthy piety to such as I have mentioned. Com- 
,f)are, for instance, Kempis with BunyanJs Pilgrim's 
Progress, or Butler's Lives of the Saints with Fox's 
Book of Martyrs. You lay down Butler with a sweet 
-and tranquil devotion, and with a profound admira- 
tion for the Christian heroes whose lives he records ; 
while you put aside Fox with a troubled mind and 
a sense of vindictive bitterness. I do not speak of the 
Booh of Common Prayer, because the best part of it is 
a translation from our Missal. Protestants also pub- 
lish Kempis, though sometimes in a mutilated form : 
•every passage in the original being carefully omitted 
-vhich alludes to Catholic doctrines and practices. 

A distinguished Episcopal clergyman of Baltimore 
•once avowed to me that his favorite book? of de- 
votion were our standard works of piety. In saying 
this, he paid a merited and graceful tribute to the 
superiority of Catholic spiritual literature. 

The Church gives us not only the most pre^sinc; 
motives, but also the most potent means for our 
-sanctification. These means are furnished by prayer 
und the Sacraments. She exhorts us to frequeni 



HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. 39 

communion with God by prayer and raeditatiou , 
and so imperative is this obligation in our eyes, 
that we would justly hold ourselves guilty of grave 
dereliction of duty, if we neglected for a considerable 
time the practice of morning and evening prayer. 

The most abundant source of graces is also found 
in the seven Sacraments of the Church. Our soul is 
bathed in the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ at the 
font of Baptism, from which we come forth "new 
creatures.*' We are then and there incorporated with 
Christ, becoming " bone of His bone and flesh of His 
flesh ; " " for as many of you," says the Apostle, " as 
have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ." ^ 
And as the Holy Ghost is inseparable from Christ, 
our bodies are made the temples of the Spirit of 
God, and our souls His Sanctuary. " Christ loved 
the Church and delivered Himself up for it, that He 
might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water, 
in the word of life ; that He might present it to 
Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or 
wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be 
holy and without blemish."^ 

In Confirmation, we receive new graces and new 
itrength to battle against the temptations of life. 

In the Eucharist, we are fed with the living Bread 
wJiich Cometh down from heaven. 

In Penance are washed away the stains we have 
cK)ntracted after Baptism. 

Are we called to the Sacred Ministry, or to the 

^ Gal. iil 27. 2 ^ph. y. 25-27. 



40 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Diarried state, we find in the Sacraments of Orders 
and Matrimony, ample graces corresponding with the 
condition of life which we have embraced. 

And our hist illness is consoled by Extreme Unc- 
tion, wherein we receive the divine succor necessary 
to fortify and purify us before departing fi^om this 
world. 

In a word, the Church, like a watchful mother, 
accompanies us from the cradle to the grave, supply- 
ing us at each step with the medicine of life and 
immortality. 

As the Church offers to her children the strongest 
motives and the most powerful means for attaining 
to sanctity of life, so does she reap among them 
the most abundant fruits of holiness. In every age 
and country she is the fruitful mother of saints. 
Our Ecclesiastical calendar is not confined to the 
names of the twelve Apostles. It is emblazoned 
with the lists of heroic martyrs who " were stoned, 
and cut asunder, and put to death by the sword ; " ^ 
of innumerable confessors and hermits who left all 
things aud followed Christ; of spotless virgins who 
preserved their chastity for the kingdom of heaven's 
sake. Every day in the year is consecrated in our 
Martyrology to a large number of saints. 

And in our own times, in every quarter of the 
^lube and in every department of life, the Church 
continues to raise up saints worthy of the primitive 
days -of Christianity. 

1 Heh xi. 37. 



HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. 41 

If we seek for Apostles, we find them conspicuousN 
among the Bishops of Germany, who are now dis- 
playing in prison and in exile a serene heroism 
worthy of Peter and Paul. 

Every year records the tortures of Catholic Mis- 
sioners who die Martyrs to the faith in China, Corea, 
and other Pagan countries. 

Among her confessors are numbered those devoted 
priests who, abandoning home and family ties, an- 
nually go forth to preach the Gospel in foreign 
lands. Their worldly possessions are often '♦.onfined 
to a few books of devotion and their modest apparel. 

And who is a stranger to her consecrated virgins, 
those sisters of various Orders who in every large 
city of Christendom are daily reclaiming degraded 
women from a life of shame, and bringing them back 
to the sweet influences of religion ; w4io snatch the 
abandoned offspring of sin from temporal and spirit- 
aal death, and make them pious and useful mem- 
bers of society, becoming more than mothers to 
them ; who rescue children fi-om ignorance, and in- 
stil into their minds the knowledge and love of God 

We can point to numberless saints also among the 
laity. I dare assert, that in almost every congrega- 
tion in the Catholic world, men and women are to he 
Ibund who exhibit a fervent piety and a zeal foi 
religion which render them worthy of being named 
after the Annas, the Aquila^, and the Priscillas of 
the New Testament. They attract not indeed the 
admiration of the public, because true piety is uno&- 



42 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHKKri. 

tentatious, and seeks a " life hidden with Christ in 
God." ' 

It rnutet not be imagined that, in proclaiming the 
sanctity of the Church, I am attempting to prove 
that all Catholics are holy. I am sorry to confess 
that corruption of morals is too often found among 
professing Catholics. We cannot close our eyes 
to the painful fact that too many of them, far from 
living up to the teachings of their Church, are 
sources of melancholy scandal. " It must be that 
scandals come, but woe to him by whom the scan- 
dal Cometh." I also admit that the sin of Catholics 
is more heinous in the sight of God than that of 
their separated brethren, because they abuse more 
grace. 

But it should be borne in mind that neither God 
nor His Church forces any man's conscience. To 
all He says by the mouth of His Prophet : " Behold 
I set before you the way of life and the way of 
death," (Jer. xxi. 8.) The choice rests with your- 
selves. 

It is easy to explain why so many disedifying 
members are always found clinging to the robes of 
the Church, their spiritual Mother, and why she 
uever shakes them olf, nor disowns them as her chil- 
dren. The Church is animated by the spirit of her 
Founder, Jesus Christ. He *^came into this world 
to save sinners." ^ He " came not to call the just 
but sinners to repentance." He was the Friend of 

I C0I088. iii. 3. * I. Tim. i. 15. 



HOLINEwSS OF THE CHURCH. 



43 



Publicans and Sinners that He might make them the 
friends of God. And they clung to Him, knowing 
His compassion for them. 

The Church, walking in the footsteps of her divinf 
Spouse, never repudiates sinners, nor cuts them off 
from her fold, no matter how grievous or notoriouf 
may be their moral delinquencies ; not because she 
connives at their sin, but because she wishes to re- 
claim them. She bids them never to despair, and 
tries, at least, to weaken their passions, if she can- 
not altogether reform their lives. 

Mindful also of the words of our Lord : " The poor 
have the Gospel preached to them/' ^ the Church 
has a tender compassion for the victims of poverty, 
which has its train of peculiar temptations and in- 
firmities. Hence, the poor and the sinners cling to 
the Church, as they clung to our Lord during Hia 
mortal life. 

We know, on the other hand, that sinners who are 
guilty of gross crimes which shock public decency, 
are virtually excommunicated from Protestant Com- 
munions. And as for the poor, the public presis 
often complains that little or no provision is made 
for them in Protestant Churches. A gentleman in- 
formed me that he never saw a poor person ejiter an 
Episcopal Church which was contiguous to his resi- 
dence. 

These excluded sinners and victims of penury 
either abandon Christianity altogether, or find 

^ Matt. xi. 5. 



44 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERa 

refuge in the bosom of their true Mother, thp- Cath^ 
lie Church, who, like her divine Spouse, claims tht 
afflicted as her most cherished inheritance. The 
parables descriptive of this Church which our Lord 
employed, also clearly t^ach us that the good and 
bad shall be joined together in the Church as long 
as her earthly mission lasts. The kingdom of God 
is like a field in which the cockle is allowed to grow 
up with the good seed until the harvest-time ; ^ it is 
like a net which encloses good fish and bad until 
the hour of separation comes. ^ So, too, the Church 
is that great house'' in which there are not only 
ve^ssels of gold and silver, but also of wood and 
clay. 

The Fathers repeat the teaching of Scripture. 
St. Jerome says : '' The ark of Noah was a type of 
the Church. As every kind of animal was in that, 
so in this there are men of every race and character. 
As in that were the leopard and the kids, the wolf 
and the Iambs, so in this there are to be found the 
just and the sinful, that is, vessels of gold and silver 
along with those of wood and clay." * 

St. Gregory the Great writes : " Because in it (the 
Church) the good are mingled with the bad, the 
reprobate with the elect, it is rightly declared to be 
similar to the wise and the foolish virgins."^ 

Listen to St. Augustine: "Let the mind recall 
the threshing-floor containing straw and wheat ; the 

1 Matt. xiii. 24-37. ^ Ibid. xiii. 47. ' II. Tim. ii. 20. 

* Dial, contra Lucif. ^ Horn. 12, in Evang. 



HOLINESS OF THE CHTTRCH. 



45 



nets in which are inclosed good and bad fish ; the 
ark of Noah in which were clean and unclean 
animals, and you will see that the Church from 
now until the judgment day contains 7iot only sheep 
and oxen, that is, saintly laymen and holy ministers, 
but also the beasts of the field. . . . For the beasts 
of the field are men who take delight in carnal 
pleasures, the field being that broad way which leads 
to perdition^ ^ 

The occasional scandals existing among members 
of the Church do not invalidate or impair her claim 
to the title of sanctity. The spots on the sun do noi 
mar his brightness. Neither do the moral stains of 
some members sully the brilliancy of her " who 
Cometh forth as the morning star, fair as the moon, 
bright as the sun." ^ The cockle that grows amidst 
the wheat does not destroy the beauty of the ripened 
harvest. The sanctity of Jesus was not sullied by 
the presence of Juda^ in the Apostolic College. 
Neither can the moral corruption of a few disciples 
tarnish the holiness of the Church. St. Paul calls 
the Church of Corinth a congregation of saints,* 
though he reproves some scandalous members among 
them.* 

It cannot be denied that corruption of morals pre- 
vailed in the sixteenth century to such an extent aa 
to call for a sweeping reformation, and that laxity 
01 discipline invaded even the sanctuary. 

But how was this reformation of murals to be 

* lu Ps. viii., n. 13. ' Cant. vi. 9. » I. Cor. i. * I. Cor. v. 



46 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

effected? Was it to be accomplished by a fonx? 
oi>erating inside the Church, or outside? 1 h-u- 
swer, that the proper way of carrying out this rei- 
ormatioD, was by battling against iniquity within 
the Church ; for there was not a single weapon 
which men could use in waging war with vice 
outside the Church, which they could not wield 
with more effective power when fighting under the 
authority of the Church. The true weapons of an 
Apostle, at all times, have been personal virtue, 
prayer, preaching, and the Sacraments. Every gen- 
uine reformer had those weapons at his disposal 
within the Church. 

She possesses, at all times, not only the principle 
of undying vitality, but, besides, all the elements of 
reformation, and all the means of sanctification. 
With the weapons I have named, she purified mor- 
als in the first century, and with the same weapons 
she went to work with a right good will, and ef- 
fected a moral reformation in the sixteenth century. 
She was the only effectual spiritual reformer of that 
age 

What was the Council of Trent but a great re- 
forming tribunal? Most of its decrees are directed 
to the reformation of abuses among the clergy and 
the laity, and the salutary fruits of its legislation 
are reaped even to this day. 

St Charles Bori'omeo, the nephew of a reigning 
Pope, was the greatest reformer of his time. Hi^ 
whole Episcopal career was spent in elevating the 
morala of his clergy and people. Bartholomew, 



HOLINESS OF THE CHURCH. 47 

Archbishop of Braga, in Portugal, preached an in- 
cessant crusade against iniquity in high and low 
places. St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Alphonsus, 
with their companions, were conspicuous and success- 
ful reformers throughout Europe. St. Philip N^ri 
was called the modern Apostle of Rome, because of 
his happy efforts in dethroning vice in that city. 
All these Catholic Apostles preached by example as 
well as by word. 

How do Luther and Calvin, and Zuinglius and 
Knox, and Henry VIII. compare with these genu- 
ine and saintly reformers, both as to their mora! 
character and the fruit of their labors ? The pri- 
vate lives of these pseudo- reformers were stained by 
cruelty, rapine, and licentiousness ; and as the result 
of their propagandism, history records civil wars, 
and bloodshed, and bitter religious strife, and the 
dismemberment of Christianity into a thousand sects. 

Instead of co-operating with the lawful authori- 
ties in extinguishing the flames which the passions 
of men had enkindled in the city of God, these 
faithless citizens fly from the citadel which they 
had vowed to defend ; then joining the enemy, they 
hasten back to fan the conflagration, and to increase 
the commotion. And they overturn the very altars 
before which they previously sacrificed as consecrated 
[)riests.^ They sanctioned rebellion by undermining 
the principle of authority. 

* Luther, Zuinglius, and Knox had been ordained priests. 
Calvin had studied for the priesthood, but did not receive 
Ordera. 



48 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

What a noble opportunity they lost of earning 
for themselves immortal Honors from God and man! 
If, instead of raising the standard of revolt, they had 
waged war upon their own passions, and fought with 
the Catholic reformers against impiety, they would 
be hailed as true soldiers of the cross. They 
would be welcomed by the Pope, the Bishops anr^ 
clergy, and by all good men. They might be hon- 
ored to-day on our altars, and might have a niche 
in our temples, side by side with those of Charles 
Borromeo and Ignatius Loyola; and instead of a 
divided army of Christians, "we should behold to- 
day a united Christendom, spreading itself irre- 
sistibly from nation to nation, and bringing all 
kingdoms to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. 



CHAPTER IV. 

CATHOLICITY. 

^PHAT Catholicity is a prominent note of the 
X Church, is evident from the Apostles' Creed, 
which says . " I believe in the Holy Catholic Church." 
The word Catholic, or Universal, signifies that the 
true Church is not circumscribed in its extent, like 
human empires, nor confined to one race of people, 
like the Jewish Church, but that she is difiused over 
every nation of the globe, and counts her children 
among all tribes and peoples and tongaes of the 
earth. 



CATHOLICITY. 49 

This glorious Church is foreshadowed by the 
Psalmist, when he sings : " All the ends of the eartb 
shall be converted to the Lord, and all the kindreds 
of the Gentiles shall adore in His sight ; for the 
kingdom is the Lord's, and He shall have dommioD 
over the nations/' ^ The Prophet Malachy saw in 
the distant future this world-wide Church, when He 
wrote : " From the rising of the sun, to the going 
down, My name is great among the Gentiles ; and 
in every place there is sacririce, and there is offered 
to My name a clean oblation ; for My name is great 
among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of Hosts." ^ 

When our Saviour gave commission to His 
Apa«sT.les, He assigned to them the whole world as 
the theatre of their labors, and the entire human 
race, without regard to language, color, or nation- 
al ity, as the audience to whom they were to preach. 
This is evident from the following passages : '' Go 
ye, therefore, and teach all natioiisJ^ ^ " Go ye into 
the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every 
creature." * " Ye shall be A\^tnesses unto Me in 
Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even 
to the uttermost part oj the earthJ^^ 

And so it came to pass. The Apostles scattered 
themselves over the surface of the earth, preaching 
the Gospel of Christ. " Their sound," says St. Paul, 
'* went over all the earth, and their words unto the 
ends of the whole world." ^ 

1 Ps. xii. 2 j^xal. i. 11. ^ ^j^^^^ xxviii. 19. 

* Mark xvi. 15. ^ Acts i. 8. ^ Rom. x. 18. 

5 n 



50 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

St. Justin Martyr, was able to say, about one 
hundred years after Christ, that there was no race 
of men, whether Barbarians or Greeks, or any other 
people of what name soever, among whom the name 
of Jesus Christ was not invoked. And St. Irenaeus, 
writing at the end of the second century, tells us 
that the religion so marvellously propagated through- • 
out the whole world, was not a vague, ever-changing 
form of Christianity, but that " this faith and doc- 
trine and tradition preached throughout the globe 
is as uniform as if the Church consisted of one 
family, possessing one soul and heart, and as if she 
had but one mouth. For, though the languages of 
the world are dissimilar, her doctrine is the same. 
The churches founded in Germany, in the Celtic 
nations, in the East, in Egypt, in Lybia, and in the 
centres of civilization, do not differ from each other ; 
but as the sun gives the same light throughout the 
world, so does the light of faith shine everywhere the 
same, and enlighten all men who wish to come to 
the knowledge of the truth." ^ '' We are but of 
yesterday," says Tertullian, " and already have we 
filled your cities, towns, islands, your council-halls 
and camps, . . . the palace, senate, forum : we have 
left you only the temples." "^ 

This Catholicity, or universality, is not to be 
found in any, or in all, of the combiued commuiiiou? 
separated from the Roman Catholic Church. 



Adv. Hfer., I. J. 'Apologet., c. 37 



CATHOLICITY. 51 

claim to this title, because they are confined within 
the Turkish and Russian dominions, and number not 
more than sixty millions of souls. 

The Protestant churches, even taken collectively, 
(as separate communions they are a mere handful,) 
are too insignificant in point of numbers, and too 
circumscribed in their territorial extent, to have any 
pretensions to the title of Catholic. All the Prot- 
estant denominations are estimated at sixty-five mil- 
lions, or less than one-fifth of those who bear the 
Christian name. They repudiate, moreover, and pro- 
test against the name of Catholic, though they con- 
tinue to say in the Apostles' Creed, " I believe in 
the Holy Catholic Church." 

That the Roman Catholic Church alone deserves 
the name of Catholic is so evident, that it is ridiculous 
to deny it. Ours is the only Church which adopts 
this name as her oflicial title. We have possession, 
which is nine-tenths of the law. We have ex- 
clusively borne this glorious appellation in troubled 
times, when the assumption of this venerable title 
exposed us to insult, persecution, and death ; and to 
attempt to deprive us of it at this late hour, w^ould 
be as fruitless as the efforts of the French Revolution- 
ists, who sought to uproot all traces of the old civiliza- 
tion by assigning new names to the days and seasons 
of the year. 

Passion and prejudice and bad manners may affix 
on us the epithets of Romish and Papist and Ultra- 
montane ^ but the calm, dispassionate mind, of what- 



52 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

ever faith, all the world over, knows us only by the 
name of Catholic. 

So great is the charm attached to the name of 
Catholic, that a portion of the Episcopal body some- 
times usurp the title of Catholic, though in their of- 
ficial books they are named Protestant Fpiscojmlians . 
If they think that they have any just claim to 
the name of Catholic, why not come out openly 
and write it on the title-pages of their Bibles and 
Prayer-Books ? Afraid of going so far, they gratify 
their vanity by privately calling themselves Catholics. 
But the delusion is so transparent, that the attempt 
must provoke a smile even among themselves. 

Should a stranger ask one of them to direct him 
to the Catholic Church, they would instinctively 
point out to him the Roman Catholic Church. 

The sectarians of the fourth and fifth centuries, 
as St. Augustine tells us, used to attempt the same 
pious fraud, but signally failed : 

" We must hold fast to the Christian religion, and 
to the communion of that Church which is Catholic, 
and which is called Catholic not only by those who 
belong to her, but also by all her enemies. Whether 
they will it or not, the very heretics themselves, and 
followers of schism, when they convert's, not with 
their own, but with outsiders, call that only Catholic 
which is really Catholic. For they cannot be under- 
stood, unless they distinguish her by that oame, by 
which she is known throughout the whole earth." ^ 

^St. Aug. de Ver. Eel., c. 7, n. 12. 



CATHOLICITY. 



53 



We possess not only the name, but also the real- 
ity. A single illustration will suffice to exhibit in 
a strong light the wide-spread dominion of the Cath- 
olic Church, and her just claims to the title of 
Catholic, Take the Ecumenical Council of the 
Vatican, opened in 1869, and presided over by 
Pope Pius IX. Of the thousand Bishops and up- 
wards now comprising the hierarchy of the Cath- 
ol.c Church, nearly eight hundred attended the 
opening session, the rest being unavoidably absent. 
All parts of the habitable globe were represented 
at the Council. 

The Bishops assembled from Great Britain, Ire- 
land, France, Germany, Switzerland, and from al- 
most every nation and principality in Europe. 
They met from Canada, the United States, Mexico, 
and South America, and from the islands of the 
Atlantic and the Pacific. They were gathered to- 
gether from different parts of Africa and Oceanica, 
They went from the banks of the Tigris and Eu- 
phrates, the cradle of the human race; and from 
the banks of the Jordan, the cradle of Christian- 
ity. They travelled to Rome from Mossul, built 
near ancient Nineveh, and from Bagdad, founded 
on the ruins of Babylon. They flocked from Da- 
mascus and Mount Libanus, and from the Holy 
Land, sanctified by the footprints of our Blessed 
Redeemer. 

Those Bishops belonged to every form of govern- 
ment, from the republic to the most absolute mon- 



64 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

archy.^ Their faces were marked by almost every 
shade and color that distinguish the human family. 
They spoke every civilized language under the sun. 
Kneeling together in the same great Council-Hall, 
truly could those Prelates exclaim, in the language 
of the Apocalypse : " Thou hast redeemed us, O 
Lord, to God in Thy blood, out of every tribe, and 
tongue, and people, and nation." ^ 

What the Catholic Church lost by the religious 
revolution of the sixteenth century in the old world, 
she has more than regained by the immense acces- 
sions to her ranks in the East and West Indies, Id 
North and South America. 

Never, in her long history, was she numerically 
so strong as she is at the present moment, when her 
children amount to about two hundred and twenty- 
five millions, or double the number of those who bear 
the name of Christians outside of her communion. 

In her alone is literally fulfilled the magnificent 
prophecy of Malachy; for in every clime, and in 
every nation under the sun, are erected thousands 
of Catholic altars upon which the " clean oblation " • 
is daily offered up to the Most High. 

It is said, with truth, that the sun never sets jn 
British dominions. It may also be affirmed, with 

^ Does not this fact conclusively demonstrate the truth that 
the Catholic Church can subsist under every form of govern- 
ment ? And is it not an eloquent refutation of the oft-re- 
peated calumny that a republic is not a favorable soil fof 
her development ? 

* Apoc. V. 9. ' Malachy i. 11. 



CATHOLicrrY. 66 

equal assurance, that wherever the British drum-beat 
sounds, aye, and wherever the English language is 
spoken, there you will find the English-speaking Cath- 
olic Missionary planting the cross — the symbol of 
solvation — side by side with the banner of St. George 
Quite recently, a number of European emigranta 
arrived in Richmond. They were strangers to our 
country, to our customs, and to our language. 
Every object that met their eye sadly reminded 
them that they were far from their own sunny 
Italy. But when they saw the cross surmounting 
our Cathedral, they hastened to it with a joyful 
step. I saw and heard a group of them giving 
earnest expression to their deep emotions. Enter- 
ing this sacred temple, they felt that they had 
found an oasis in the desert. Once more they 
were at home. They found one familiar spot in 
a strange land. They stood in the church of their 
fathers, in the home of their childhood ; and they 
seemed to say in their hearts, as a tear trickled 
down their sunburnt cheeks, " How lovely are 
Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts ! My soul long- 
eth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My 
heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living 
God." ^ They saw around them the paintings of 
familiar saints whom they had been accustomed 
to reverence from their youth. They saw the bap- 
tismal font and the confessionals. They beheld 
the altar and the altar-rails where they received 

^ Ps. Ixxxiii. 



56 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

their Maker. They observed the Priest at the al- 
tar in his sacred vestments. They saw a multitude 
of worshippers kneeling around them, and they 
felt in their heart of hearts that they were once 
more among brothers and sisters, with whom the 7 
had " one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God 
and Father of all." 

Everywhere a Catholic is at home. Secret socie- 
ties, of whatever name, form but a weak and counter- 
feit bond of union, compared with the genuine fellow- 
ship created by Catholic faith, hope, and charity. 

The Roman Catholic Church, then, exclusively 
merits the title of Catholic, because her children 
abound in every part of the globe, and comprise 
the vast majority of the Christian family. 



CHAPTER V. 

APOSTOLICITY. 



THE true Church must be Apostolical. Hence 
in the Creed framed in the first Ecumenical 
Council of Nicsea, in the year 325, we find these 
words ; " I believe in the One, Holy, Catholic, and 
Apostolic Church." 

This attribute or note of the Church implies that 
the true Church must always teach the identical 
doctrines once delivered by the Apostles, and thai 
her ministers must derive their powers from the 
Apostles by an uninterrupted succession. 



APOSTOLICITY. 67 

Consequently, no church can claim to be the true 
one whose doctrines differ from those of the Apos- 
tles, or whose ministers are unable to trace, by ar 
unbroken chain, their authority to an Apostolic 
source ; just as our Minister to England can exercist 
no authority in that country unless he is duly com 
missioned by our Government, and represents its 
views. 

The Church, says St. Paul, is "built upon the 
foundation of the Apostles,"^ so that the doctrine 
which it propagates, must be based on Apostolic 
teachings. Hence St. Paul says to the Galatians : 
" Though an angel from heaven preach a Gospel to 
you beside that which we have preached to you, let 
him be anathema." ^ The same Apostle gives this 
admonition to Timothy: "The things which thou 
hast heard from me before many witnesses, the same 
commend to faithful men who shall be fit to teach 
others also.'' ' Timothy must transmit to his disci- 
ples only such doctrines as he heard from the lip? 
of his master. 

Not only is it required that ministers of the Gos- 
pel should conform their teaching to the doctrine of 
the Apostles, but also that these ministers should be 
ordained and commissioned by the Apostles or their 
legitimate successors. " Neither doth any man," 
says the Apostle, " take the honor to himself, but he 
that is called by God, as Aaron was." * This text 
evidently condemns all self-constituted preachera 

' Eph. ii. 20. 2 Gal. i. 8. ' II. Tim. ii. 2. * Heb. v. 4 



58 



THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 



and reformers ; for, " how shall they preach, unlesa 
they be sent?"^ — Sent^ of course, by legitimate au- 
thority, and not directed by their own caprice. 
Hence, we find that those who succeeded the Apos- 
tles, were ordained and commissioned by them to 
preach, and that no others were permitted to exercise 
this function. Thus we are told that Paul and 
Barnabas " had ordained for them priests in every 
church." ^ And the Apostle says to Titus : *' For 
this cause I left thee in Crete, .... that thou 
shouldst ordain priests in every city, as I also ap- 
pointed thee."^ Even St. Paul himself, though 
miraculously called and instructed by God, had 
hands imposed on him,* lest others should be tempted 
by his example to preach without Apostolic war- 
rant. 

To discover, therefore, the Church of Christ among 
the various conflicting claimants, we have to inquire, 
1st, which church teaches whole and entire those doc- 
trines that were taught by the Apostles ; 2d, what 
ministers can trace back, in an unbroken line, their 
missionary powers to the Apostles. 

The Catholic Church alone teaches doctrines which 
are in all respects identical with those of the first 
teachers of the Gospel. The following parallel lines 
exhibit some examples of the departure of the Prot- 
estant bodies from the primitive teachings of Chris- 
tianity, and the faithful adhesion of the Catholic 
C'burch to them. 

' tlom. X. 15. 2 Acts xiv. 22. ^ Xit. i. 5. "* Acts xiii. \l 8. 



APOSTOLICITT. 



59 



APOwoLic Chxtp.ch. 



1. Our Saviour gives 
pre-emiueace to Peter 
over thd other Apostles: 
"I Trill give to thee the 
k«7s of the kingdom of 
heaven."! "Confirm thy 
brethren. "2 " Feed My 
lambs ; feed My sheep."3 

2. The Apostolic Church 
claimed to be infallible in 
her teachings. Hence the 
Apostles spoke with un- 
erring authority, and 
their veords were receiv- 
ed not as human opin- 
ions, but as divine truths. 
" When you had received 
from us the word of God, 
you received it not as the 
word of men, but (as it 
is indeed) the word of 
GK)d."* *' It hath seemed 
good to the Holy Ghost 
and to us," say the as- 
sembled Apostles, " to 
lay no further burden 
upon you than these ne- 
cessary things."5 

" Though an angel from 
heaven preach a gospel to 
you besides that which 
we have preached to you, 
let him be anatnema." 

3. Our Saviour enjoins 
and prescribes rules for 
fasting: "When thou 
fastest, anoint thy head 
and wash thy face, that 
ihou appear not to men 
10 fast, . . . and thy Fa- 
ih^c, whoseeth in secret, 
will repay thee."" 



Catholic Chubch. 



The Catholic Church 
gives the primacy of 
honor and jurisdiction to 
Peter and to his succes- 
sois. 



The Catholic Church 
alone, of all the Christian 
communions, claims to 
exercise the prerogative 
of infallibility in her 
teaching. Her ministers 
always speak from the 
pulpit as having author- 
ity, and the faithful re- 
ceive with implicit confi- 
dence what the Church 
teaches, without once 
questioning her veracity. 



The Church prescribes 
fasting to the faithful at 
stated seasons, particu- 
larly during Lent. 

A Catholic Priest is al- 
ways fasting when he of- 
ficiates at the altar. He 
breaks his fast only after 
he says Mass. When 



Pbotkstant CHUaCHK*. 



All other Ch risti&ji com- 
munions practically denr 
Peter's supremacy ov« 
the other Apostles. 



All tne Protestant 
churches repudiate the 
claim of infallibility. — 
They deny that such a 
gift is possessed by any 
teachers of religion. The 
ministers pronounce no 
authoritative doctrines, 
but advance opinions ae 
embodying their private 
interpretation of the 
Scripture. And their 
hearers are never requir- 
ed to believe them, but 
are expected to draw 
their own conclusione 
from the Bible. 



Protestants have no law 
prescribing fasts, though 
some n.-ay last from pri- 
vate devotion. Theyevea 
try to cast ridicule ob 
fasting, as a work of su- 
pererogation, detracting 
from the merits of Christ. 

Neither candidates for 



'Matt, xvi 18. 

s Vets XV. 28. 



2 Luke xxii. 32. J John xxi. 15. * Thess. ii. IS. 

8 Gkil. i. 8. ' Matt. vi. 17. 



60 



THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 



A.P08T01UXC Chukch. 



Catholic Chuech. 



The Apostles fasted be- 
fore engagiiig in sacred 
ninctions: "They minis- 
tered to the Lord, and 
fasted."i " And when 
they ordained priests in 
every city, they prayed 
with faating."2 

4. "Let women," says 
the Apostle, "keep si- 
lence in the churches. 
For, it is not permitted 
them to speak. ... It is 
a shame for a woman to 
speak in the church. "3 

5. St. Peter and St. 
John confirmed the new- 
ly baptized in Samaria: 
"They laid hands on 
them, and they received 
the Holy Ghost."'' 



6. Our Saviour and His 
Apostles taught that the 
Eucharist contains the 
Body and Blood of Christ. 
"Take ye, and eat; this 
is My Body. . . . Drink 
ye all of this, for this is 
My Blood, "5 

"The chalice of bene- 
diction which we bless, 
18 it not the communion 
of the Blooi of Christ; 
and the bread which we 
break, is it not the par- 
isicipation of the Body of 
the Lord ? " « 



Bishops ordain Priests, 
they are always fasting, 
as well as the candidates 
for ordination. 



The Catholic Church 
never permits women to 
preach in the house of 
God. 



Every Catholic Bishop, 
as a successor of the Apos- 
tles, likewise imposes 
hands on baptized per- 
sons in the Sacrament of 
Confirmation, by which 
they receive the Holy 
Ghost. 

The Catholic Church 
teaches, with our Lord 
and His Apostles,that the 
Eucharist contains really 
and indeed the Body and 
Blood of Jesus Christ un- 
der the appearance of 
bread and wine. 



7. The Apostles were The Bishops and Priests 
empowered by our Sa- ' of the Catholic Church, 



Pbotestajtt CnracKBft 



ordination, nor the miu- 
isters who ordain tbexa 
ever fast on such occa- 
sions. 



Women, especially in 
this country, publicly 
preach in Methodist and 
other churches, with the 
sanction of the church 
elders. 



No denomination per- 
forms th« ceremony of 
imposing hands in this 
country except Episco- 
palians; and even they 
do not recognize Confir- 
mation as a Sacrament. 



The Protestant church- 
es (except, perhaps, a few 
Ritualists) condemn the 
doctrine of the Keal Pres- 
ence as idolatrous, and 
say that, in partaking of 
the communion, we re- 
ceive only a memorial of 
Christ. 



Protestants afiSrm, oc 
the contrary, that God 



I Acts ziii. 2. 
« Act* viii. 17. 



3 Acts xiv. 22. 

» Matt. xxvi. 26-28, 



3 I. Cor. xiv. 34. 36. 
8 I. Jor. X. 16. 



APOSTOLICITY. 



61 



A.FOaTOLiC UHcacH. 



Catholic Chuhch. 



viour to forgive sins : — 
** Whose sins ye shall for- 
give, they are forgiven. "i 
"Gcd," says Si. Paul, 
"hath giren to us the 
ministry of reconcilia- 
ii0n."2 

8. Regarding the sick, 
St. Jajnes gives this in- 
struction : " Is any man 
sick among you, let him 
bring in the priests of the 
Church, and let them 
pray over him, anointing 
him with oil in the name 
of the Lord."* 



9. Of marriage, our Sa- 
viour says: "Whosoever 
shall put away his wife 
and marry another, com- 
mitteth adultery against 
her. And if the wife 
shall put away her hus- 
band, and be married to 
another, she committeth 
adultery. "4 

And again St. Paul 
says: "To them that are 
married, . . . the Lord 
commandeth, that the 
wife depart not from her 
husband, and if she de- 
part, that she remain un- 
married. . . . And let not 
the husband put away 
his wife."5 

10. Our Lord recom- 
mpuds not only by word, 
t)ut by His example, to 



a.s the inheritors of Apos- 
tolic prerogatives, profess 
to exercise the ministry 
of reconciliation, and to 
forgive sins in the name 
of Christ. 



One of the most ordi- 
nary duties of a Catholic 
Priest is to anoint the 
sick in the Sacrament of 
Extreme Unction. If a 
man is sick among us, he 
is careful to call in the 
Priest of the Church, that 
he may anoint him with 
oil in the name of the 
Lord. 

Literally following the 
Apostle's injunction, the 
Catholic Church forbids 
the husband and wife to 
separate from one an- 
other. Or, if they sepa- 
rate, neither of them can 
marry again during the 
life of the other. 



Like the Apostle and 
his Master, the Catholic 
clergv bind themselves to 



PE0TESTA5T CkVECSSA. 



delegates to no man thi 
power of pardoning siu 



No such ceremony a» 
that of anointing the 
sick is practised by any 
Protestan t ilenomination 
notwithstanding t b • 
Apostle's injunction. 



The Protestant church 
es, as is well known, hav«i 
so far relaxed this ri-ror- 
ous law of the Gospe! a? 
to allow divorced perse?! i 
to remarry. 

And divorce a vincf.'lr, 
is granted on various and 
even trifling pr^i^zts. 



souls aiming at perfec- ' a life of perpetual chas- 



AU the ministers OJ 
othei denominatinnp. 
with verv rare eic«tv 
tions, marry. And fai 



»John IX. 23. 

6 



2 TI. Cor. T. 18. 3 James t. 14. '•Mark x. 11, 12. 61. Cor. ^11. 10, l\. 



62 



THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 



Apostolic Chukch. 

tion, the state of parpet- 
ual virginity. St. Paul 
also exhorts the Corin- 
thians by counsel and his 
own example to the same 
angelic viriue: "He that 
giveth his virgin in mar- 
riage," he says, "doeth 
well. And he that giveth 
her not, doeth better." i 



Catholic Chuech. 



tity. The inmates of our 
convents of men and vfo- 
meu voluntarily conse- 
crate their virginity to 
God. 



PrOTKSTAKT CflrKCHM. 



from inculcating the 
Apostolic counsel of celi- 
bacy to any of tht^ir flock, 
they more than insinuate 
that the virtue of perpet- 
ual chastity, though rec- 
ommended by St. Paul 
is impracticable. 



We now leave the reader to judge for himself 

which Church enforces the doctrines of the Apostles 
in all their pristine vigor. 

To show that the Catholic Church is the only 
lineal descendant of the Apostles, it is sufficient to 
demonstrate that she alone can trace her pedigree, 
generation after generation, to the Apostles, while 
the origin of all other Christian communities can be 
referred to a comparatively modern date. 

The most influential Christian sects existing in 
this country at the present time, are the Lutherans, 
Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Bap- 
tists. The other Protestant denominations are com- 
paratively insignificant in point of numbers, and are 
for the most part offshoots from the Christian com- 
munities just named. 

Martin Luther, a Saxon monk, was the fouuder 
of the church which bears his name. He was born 
at Eisleben, in Saxony, in 1483, aud died in 1546. 

The Anglican or Episcopal Church owes its origin 



APOSTOLICITY. ^3 

to Henry VIII. of England. The immediate cause 
of his renunciation of the Roman Church was the 
refusal of Pope Clement VII. to grant him a divorce 
from his lawful wife, Catharine of Aragon, that he 
might be free to be joined in wedlock to Anne 
Boleyn. In order to legalize his divorce from his 
virtuous queen, the licentious monarch divorced 
himself and his kingdom from the spiritual su- 
premacy of the Pope. 

" There is a close relationship, '' says D'Aubigue, 
" between these two divorces," meaning Henry's 
divorce from his wife and England's divorce from 
the Church. Yes, there is the relationship of cause 
and effect. 

Bishop Short, an Anglican historian, candidly ad- 
mits that " the existence of the church of England 
as a distinct body, and her final separation from 
Rome, may he dated from the period of the divorce."' 

The Book of Homilies, in the language of fulsome 
praise, calls Henry " the true and faithful minister," 
and gives him the credit for having abolished in 
England the Papal supremacy, and established the 
new order of things.^ 

John Wesley is the acknowledged founder of the 
Methodist church. -Methodism dates from the year 
1729, and its cradle was the Oxford University in 
England. John and Charles Wesley were studentja 

^ History of the Church of England, by Thomas V. Shori, 
Bishop of St. Asaph's, p. 44. 
2Book of Homilies. 



64 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

at Oxford. They gncnertia around them a number 
of young men who devoted themselves to the fre- 
quent reading of the Holy Scriptures, and to prayer 
Their methodical and exact mode of life obtained 
for them the name of MetJiodisU, The Methodist 
church in this country is the offspring of a colony 
sent hither from England. 

As it would be tedious to give even a succinct 
history of each sect, I shall content myself with pre- 
senting a tabular statement exhibiting the name 
and founder of each denomination, the place and 
the date of its origin, and the names of the authors 
from whom I quote. My authorities in every in- 
etance are Protestants. 



AP08T0LICITY. 



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66 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS, 

From this brief historical tableau, we find that all 
the Christian sects now existing in the United States 
had their origin smce the year 1500. Consequently, 
the oldest body of Christians among us, outride the 
Catholic Church, is not yet four centuries old. They 
all, therefore, come fifteen centuries too late to have 
any pretensions to be called the Apostolic Church. 

But I may be told : '^ Though our public history 
as Protestants dates from the Reformation, we can 
trace our origin back to the Apostles." This I say 
IS impossible. First of all, the very name you bear 
betrays your recent birth ; for who ever heard of a 
Baptist or an Episcopal, or any other Protestant 
church, prior to the Eeiormation ? Nur can you 
say : " We existed in every age as an invisible 
church." Your concealment, indeed, was so com- 
plete, that no man can tell, to this day, where you 
lay hid for sixteen centuries. But even if you did 
exist, you could not claim to be the Church of 
Christ ; fur our Lord predicted that His Church 
should ever be as a city placed upon the mountain- 
top, that all might see it, and that its ministers 
should preach the truths of salvation from the 
watch-towers thereof, that all might hear them. 

It is equally in vain to tell me that you were al- 
lied in faith to the various Christian sects that went 
out from the Catholic Church from age to age ; for 
these sects proclaimed doctrines diametrically op- 
posed to one another, and the true Church must be 
one in faith. And besides, the less relationship you 



APOSTOLICITY. 



67 



claim with many of these seceders, the better for 
you, as they all advocated errors agaiDst ChrisiiaD 
truth, and some of them disseminated principles ai 
variance with decency and morality. 

The Catholic Church, on the contrary, can easily 
vindicate the title of Apostolic, because she derives 
her origin from the Apostles, Every Priest and 
Bishop can ti-ace his genealogy to the first dis- 
ciples of Christ with as much facility as the most 
remote branch of a vine can be traced to the main 
stem. 

All the Catholic Clergy in the United States, for 
instance, were ordained only by Bishops who are in 
active communion with the See of Rome. Thes(i 
Bishops themselves received their commission from 
the Bishop of Rome. The present Bishop of Rome, 
Pius IX., is the successor of Gregory XVI., who suc- 
ceeded Pius VIIL, who was the successor of Leo 
XII. And thus we go back from century to cen- 
tury till we come to Peter, the first Bishop of Rome, 
Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar of Christ. Like 
the Evangelist Luke, who traces the genealogy of 
our Saviour back to Adam and to God, we can trace 
the pedigree of Pius IX. to Peter and to Christ. 
There is not a link wanting in the chain which 
binds the humblest Priest in the land to the Prince 
of the Apostles. And although on a few occasions 
there happened to be two or even three claimants 
for the chair of Peter, these counter-claims could no 
more affect the validity of the legitimate Pope thap 



68 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

the struggle of two contestants for a seat in Congress 
could invalidate the title of the lawful representa- 
tive. 

It was by pursuing this line of argument that 
the early Fathers demonstrated the Apostolicity of 
the Catholic Church, and refuted the pretensions of 
cotemporary sectaries. St. Irenseus, Tertullian, and 
St. Augustine give catalogues of the Bishops of 
Rome who flourished up to their respective times, 
with whom it was their happiness to be in com- 
munion, and flien they challenged their opponents 
to trace their lineage to the Apostolic See. "Let 
them/' says Tertullian, in the second century, " pro- 
duce the origin of their church. Let them exhibit 
the succession of their Bishops, so that the first of 
them may appear to have been ordained by an 
Apostle, or by an apostolic man who was in communion 
with the Apostles^ ^ 

And if the Fathers of the fifth century considered 
it a powerful argument in their favor that they 
could refer to an uninterrupted line of fifty Bish- 
ops who occupied the See of Rome, how much 
stronger is the argument to us who can now ex- 
hibit five times that number of Roman Pontifis 
who have sat in the chair of Peter! I would af- 
fectionately repeat to my separated brethren! what 
Augustine said to the Donatists of his time : " Come 
to us, brethren, if you wish to be engrafted in the 
vine. We are afflicted in beholding you lying cut 

^ Lib. de Prsescrip., c. 32. 



PERPETUITY. Oy 

off from it. Count over the Bishops from the very 
See of St. Peter, and mark, in that list of Fathers, 
how one succeeded che other. This is the rock 
against which the proud gates of hell do not pre- 
vail." ' 



CHAPTER VI. 

PERPETUITY OF THE CHURCH. 

PERPETUITY, or duration till the end of fclme^ 
is one of the most striking marks of the Church 
By perpetuity is not meant merely that Christianity 
in one form or another was always to exist, but that 
the Church was to remain forever in its integrity^ 
clothed with all the attributes which God gave it is 
the beginning. For, if the Church lost any of her 
essential characteristics, such as her unity and 
sanctity, which our Lord imparted to her at tho 
commencement of her existence, she could not bo 
said to be perpetual, because she would not be thc> 
same Institution. 

The unceasing duration of the Church of Christ is 
frequently foretold in Sacred Scripture. The Angel 
Gabriel announces to Mary that Christ " shall reign 
over the house of Jacob forever^ and of his kingdom 
there shall be no end^ ^ Our Saviour said to Peter . 
" Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build 
My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 

* Psai. contra part Donati. ^ Luke i. 32, 33. 



70 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

against it."^ Our blessed Lord clearly intimatea 
here that the Church is destined to be assailed 
always, but to be overcome, never. 

In the last words recorded of our Redeemer in the 
Gospel of St. Matthew, the same prediction is 
strongly repeated, and the reason of the Church's 
indefectibility is fully expressed : " Go ye, teach all 
nations, .... and behold I am with you all days, 
even to the consummation of the world." ^ This sen 
tence contains three important declarations : 1st, The 
presence of Christ with His Church, " Behold, I am 
with you ; " 2d. His constant presence, without an 
interval of one day's absence, " I am with you all 
days ; " 3d. His perpetual presence to the end of the 
world, and consequently the perpetual duration of the 
Church, " Even to the consummation of the world." 

Hence it follows that the true Church must have 
existed from the beginning ; it must have had not 
one day's interval of suspended animation, or sepa- 
ration from Christ, and must live to the end of time. 

None of the Christian communions outside the 
Catholic Church can have any reasonable claim to 
Perpetuity, since, as we have seen in the preceding 
chapter, they are alP of recent origin. 

The indestructibility of the Catholic Church is 
truly marvellous, and well calculated to excite the 
admiration of every reflecting mind, when we con- 
sider the number and variety, and the formidable 
power oi' the enemies with whom she had to contend 

1 Matt. xvi. 18. niatt. xxviii. 20. 

^ Except some 'Oriental sects dating back to the fifth and 
ninth centuries. 



PERPETUITY. 7 J 

from her very birth to the present time ; this faci 
alone stamps divinity on her brow. 

The Church has been constantly engaged in a 
double warfare, one foreign, the other domestic — in 
foreign war against Paganism and infidelity ; in 
civil strife against heresy and schism fomented by 
her own rebellious children. 

From the day of Pentecost till the victory of 
Constantine the Great over Maxentius, embracing a 
period of about two hundred and eighty years, the 
Church underwent a series of ten persecutions 
unparalleled for atrocity in the annals of history. 
Every torture that malice could invent was re- 
sorted to, that every vestige of Christianity might 
be eradicated. ^^ Christianos ad leones/^ the Chris- 
tians to the lions, was the popular war-cry. 

They were clothed in the skins of wild beasts, and 
thus exposed to be devoured by dogs. They were 
covered with pitch, and set on fire, to serve as lamp- 
posts to the streets of Rome. To justify such atroci- 
ties, and to smother all sentiments of compassion, 
these persecutors accused their innocent victims of 
the most appalling crimes. 

For three centuries the Christians were obliged to 
worship God in the secrecy of their chambers, or in 
the Roman catacombs, which are still preserved to 
attest the undying fortitude of the martyrs, and th^ 
enormity of their sufferings. 

A.nd yet Pagan Rome, before whose standard tht 



72 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

mightiest nations quailed, was unable to crush the 
infant Church or arrest her progress. In a short 
time, we find this colossal Empire going to pieces, 
and the Head of the Catholic Church dispensing 
laws to Christendom in the very city from which 
the imperial C^sars had promulgated their edicts 
against Christianity ! 

During the fifth and sixth centuries, the Goths 
and Vandals, the Huns, Visigoths, and Lombards, 
and other immense tribes of Barbarians, came down 
like a torrent from the North, invading the fairest 
portions of Southern Europe. They dismembered 
the Roman Empire, and swept away nearly every 
trace of the old Roman civilization. They plundered 
cities, levelled churches, and left ruin and desola- 
tion after them. Yet, though conquering for awhile, 
thsy were conquered in turn, by submitting to the 
sweet yoke of the Gospel. And thus, as even the 
infidel Gibbon observes, " The progress of Christian- 
itv has been marked by two glorious and decisive 
v^ictories over the learned and luxurious citizens of 
the Roman Empire ; and over the warlike Bar 
barians of Scythia and Germany, who subverted the 
empire and embraced the religion of the Romans."^ 

Mohammedanism took its rise in the seventh 
century in Arabia, and made rapid conquests in 
Asia. In the fifteenth century, Constantinople was 
captured by the followers of the false prophet, w]>o 
even threatened to subject all Europe to their sway. 

^ Decline and Fall of the Eoman Empire, ch. xxxvii. p. 450. 



PEKPETUITY. 73 

At the earnest solicitation of liie Pope, ttie kingdom 
of Spain and the republic of Venice formed an offen- 
sive league against the Turks, who were signally de- 
feated in the battle of Lepanto, in 1571. And if 
the Cross, instead of the Crescent, surmounts the 
cities of Europe to-day, it is indebted for this price- 
less blessing to the vigilance of the Koman Pontiffs, 

Another adversary more formidable and danger- 
ous than those I have mentioned, threatened the 
overthrow of the Church in the fourth and fifth 
centuries. I speak of the great heresy of Arius, 
which was followed by those of Nestorius and 
Eutyches. 

The Arian schism, soon after its rise, spread 
rapidly through Europe, Northern Africa, and por- 
tions of Asia. It received the support of immense 
multitudes, and flourished for awhile under the 
fostering care of several successive emperors. 
Catholic Bishops were banished from their sees, and 
their places were filled by Arian intruders. The 
Church which survived the sword of Paganism, 
seemed for awhile to yield to the poison of Arian- 
ism. But after a short career of prosperity, this 
gigantic sect became weakened by intestine divisions, 
and was finally swept away by other errors which 
came following in its footsteps. 

You are already familiar with the great religious 
revolution of the sixteenth century, which spread 
like a tornado over jSTorthern Europe, and threatened, 
if that were possible, to engulf the bark of Peter, 



74 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

More than half of Germany followed the new Gospel 

of Martin Luther. Switzerland Bubmitted to the 
doctrines of Zuinglius. The faith was lost in Sweden 
through the influence of its king, Gustavus Vasa. 
DcDmark conformed to the new creed through the 
intrigues of King Christian II. Catholicity was 
also crushed out in Norway, England, and Scotland. 
Calvinism in the sixteenth century, and Yoltaireism 
in the eighteenth, had gained such a foothold in 
France, that the faith of that glorious Catholic 
nation twice trembled in the balance. Ireland alone, 
of ail the nations of NortherD Europe, remained 
faithful to the ancient Church. 

Let us now calmly survey the field after the diji 
and smoke of battle have passed away. Let \ii 
examine the condition of the old Church, after hai - 
ing passed through those deadly conflicts. We see 
her numerically stronger to-day than at any pra- 
vious period of her history. The losses she sustained 
in the old world are more than compensated by hei 
acquisitions in the new. She has already recovered 
a good portion of the ground wrested from her in 
the sixteenth century. She numbers now about two 
liundred and twenty-five millions of adherents. 
She exists to-day not an efiete institution, bat in all 
the integrity and fulness of life, with her organism 
unimpaired, mere united, more compact, and more 
vigorous than ever she was before. 

The so-called Reformation of the sixteenth cen- 
tury bears many points of resemblance to the great 



PERPETtriTY. 75 

A nan heresy. Both schisms originated with priests 
impatient of the joke of the Gospel, fond of novelty, 
and ambitious of notoriety. Both were nursed and 
sustained by the reigning Powers, and were aug- 
mented by large accessions of proselytes. Both 
spread for awhile with the irresistible force of a 
violent hurricane, till its fury was spent. Both 
subsequently became subdivided into various bod- 
ies. The extinction of Protestantism would com- 
plete the parallel. 

In this connection, a remark of De Maistre is 
worth quoting : '* If Protestantism bears always the 
same name, though its belief has been perpetually 
shifting, it is because its name is purely negative, 
and means only the denial of Catholicity, so that 
the less it believes, and the more it protests, the 
more consistently Protestant it will be. Since, then, 
its name becomes continually truer, it must subsist 
until it perishes, just as an ulcer disappears with the 
last atom of the flesh which it has been eating 
away." ^ 

But similar causes will produce similar results. 
As both revolutions were the offspring of rebellion ; 
as both have been marked by the same vigorous 
youth, the same precocious manhood, the same pre* 
mature decay and dismemberment of parts ; so we 
are not rash in predicting that the dissolution which 
long since visited the former is destined, sooner or 
later, to overtake the latter. But the Catholic? 

1 T)ii Pape. 1. 2. c. 5. 



76 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Chi'icli, because she is the work of God, is always 
" renewing her strength, like the eagle's." ^ 

I wo?ild now ask this question of all that are hos- 
tile to the Catholic Church, and that are plotting 
her dest Taction : How can you hope to overturn an 
Institutiua which for more than eighteen centuries 
has succi\^sfully resisted all the combined assaults 
of the wo\'id, of men, and of the powers of darkness ? 
What mo.^..ns will you employ to compass her ruin? 

I. Is it the power of Kings, and Emperors, and 
Prime MihV3ters? They have tried in vain to crush 
her, from the days of the Roman Caesars to those of 
the present Chancellor of Germany. 

Many persons labor under the erroneous impres- 
sic>n that the crowned heads of Europe have been 
the unvarying supporters of the Church, and that 
if their protection were withdrawn she would soon 
coilapse. So far from the Church being sheltered 
behind eartlily thrones, her worst enemies have been, 
with some honorable exceptions, so-called Christian 
Princes who were nominal children of the Church. 
They chafed under her salutary discipline ; they 
wished to be rid of her yoke, because she alone, in 
times of oppression, had the power and the courage 
to stand bv the rights of the people, and place hei 
breaftt as a wall of brass against the encroachmencg 
of their rulers. With calm confidence we can say 
with the Psalmist: "Why have the Gentiles raged, 
and the people devised vain things ? The kings of 

^ Psalm cii. 5. 



PEKPETTTITY. 77 

the earth stood up, and the princes met togethe*', 
against the Lord, and against his Christ. Let us 
break their bonds asunder, and let us cast away 
their yoke from us. 

" He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them 
and the Lord shall deride them.'' ^ 

IL Can the immense resources and organized 
power of rival religious bodies succeed in absorb^ 
ing her, and in bringing her to naught ? I am not 
disposed to undervalue this power. Against any 
human force it would be irresistible. But if the 
colossal strength and incomparable machinery of 
the Roman Empire could not prevent the establish- 
ment of the Church; if Arianism, Nestorianism, 
Eutychianism could not check her development, 
how can modern organizations stop her progress 
now, when in the fulness of her strength ? 

It is easier to preserve what is created, than to 
create anew. 

III. But we have been told: "Take from the 
Pope his Temporal power, and the Church k doomed 
to destruction. This is the secret of her s trength ; 
strip her of this, and, like Samson shorn of his hair, 
she will betray all the weakness of a poor mortal. 
Then this brilliant luminary will wax pale, iKiid she 
will sink below the horizon, never more ii) ris€ 
again." 

For more than seven centuries after the establish- 
ment of the Church, the Popes had no sovereign terri- 

' Psalm ii. 1-4. 
7* 



78 THE FAITH OF OUB FATHERS. 

tonal jurisdiction. How could she have outlived 
that period, if the temporal power were essential t« 
her perpetuity? And even for the last seven years 
the Pope has been deprived of his temporalities. 
This loss, however, does not briuf]: a wrinkle on the 
fair brow of the Church, nor does it retard one inch 
her onward march. 

IV. Is she unable to cope with modern inventions 
and the mechanical progress of the nineteenth cen- 
tury ? We are often told so ; but far from hiding 
our head, like the ostrich in the sand, at the ap- 
proach of these inventions, we hail them as messen- 
gers of God, and will use them as Providential in- 
struments for the further propagation of the faith. 

If we succeeded so well before, when we had no 
ships but frail canoes, no compass but our eyes ; 
when we had no roads but eternal snows, virgin 
forests, and trackless deserts ; when we had no guide 
6ave faith, and hope, and God — if even then we 
succeeded so well in carrying the Gospel to the con- 
fines of the earth, how much more can we do now 
by the aid of telegraph, steamships, and railroads ? 

Yes, O men of genius, we bless your inventions ; 
we bless you, ye modern discoveries; and we will 
impress you into the service of the Church, and say : 
• Lightnings and clouds bless the Lord ; all ye 
works of the Lord bless the Lord ; praise and exalt 
men above all forever." ^ 

The utility of modern inventions to the Church 

^ Daniel iii. 



PERPETtriTY. 79 

has lately been manifested in a conspicuous manner. 
The Pope called a council of all the Bishops of the 
world. Without the aid of steam, it would have been 
impossible for theiu to assemble ; by its aid they were 
able to meet from the uttermost bounds of the earth. 

V. But may not the light of the Church gro\v 
pale and be extinguished before the intellectual 
blaze of the nineteenth century ? Has she not much 
to fear from literature, the arts, and sciences? She 
has always been the Patroness of literature, and the 
fostering Mother of the arts and sciences. She 
founded and endowed nearly all the great universi- 
ties of Europe. • Withouo her, we should be de- 
prived to'day of the priceless treasures of ancient 
literature; for, in preserving the languages of 
Greece and Eome from destruction, she rescued 
the classical vrriters of those countries from ob- 
livion. Hallam justly observes, that were it not 
for the diligent labors of the monks in the Middle 
Ages, our Jinowledge of the history of ancient 
Greece and Eome would be as vague to-day as our 
information regarding the Pyramids of Egypt. 

And as for works of art, there are more valuable 
monuments of art contained in the single museum 
of the Vatican than are to be found in all our coun- 
try. Artists are obliged to go to Rome to consul 1 
their best models. Our churches are not only tem- 
ples of worship, but depositories of sacred art. 

VI. Is it liberty that will destroy the Church? 
The Church breathes freely only where true liberty 



80 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

is found. She is always cramped in her operations, 
wherever despotism easts its dark shadow. No- 
where does she enjoy more independence than here; 
nowhere is she more vigorous and more prosperous. 

Children of the Church, fear nothing, happen 
what will to her. Christ is with her, and therefore 
she cannot sink. Caesar, in crossing the Adriatic, 
said to the troubled oarsman : *' Quid times ? Caesa- 
rem vehis." What Csesar said in presumption, Jesus 
says with truth : What fearest thou ? Christ is in 
the ship. Are we not positive that the sun will rise 
to-morrow and next day, and so on to the end of the 
world ? Why ? Because God so ordained when He 
established it in the heavens ; and because it has never 
failed to run its course from the beginning. Has 
not Christ promised that the Church should always 
enlighten the world ? Has He not, so far, fulfilled 
His promise concerning His Church ? Has she not 
gone steadily on her course amid storm and sunshine ? 
The fulfilment of the past is the best security for the 
future. 

Amid the continual changes in human institu- 
tions, she is the one Institution that never changes. 
Amid the universal ruins of earthly monuments, 
she is the one monument that stands proudly pre- 
eminent. Not a stone in this building falls to the 
ground. Amid the general destruction of king- 
doms, her kingdom is never destroyed. Ever an- 
cient and ever new, Time writes no wrinkles on hei 
divine brow. 



PERPETUITY. 81 

The Church has seen the birth of every govern- 
ment in Europe, and it is not at all improbable that 
she shall also witness the death of them all, and 
chant their requiem. She was more than fourteen 
hundred years old when Columbus discovered our 
continent, and the foundation of our Republic is but 
as yesterday to her. 

She calmly looked on while the Goth and the 
Visigoth, the Hun and the Saxon svvept like a tor- 
rent over Europe, subverting dynasties. She has 
seen monarchies changed into republics, and repub- 
lics consolidated into empires — all this has she wit- 
nessed, while her own divine Constitution has re- 
mained unaltered. Of Her we can truly say in the 
words of the Psalmist: "They shall perish, but 
thou remainest ; and all of them shall grow old as 
a garment. And as a vesture Thou shalt change 
them, and they shall be changed. But thou art 
always the self-same, and thy years shalt not fail. 
The children of ihy servants shall continue, and 
their seed shall be directed forever." ^ 

In the brightest days of the Republic of Pagar 
Rome, the Roman said with pride : " I am a Romar 
citizen." This was his noblest title. He was proud 
of the Republic, because it was venerable in years, 
powerful in the number of its citizens, and distin 
guished for the wisdom of its statesmen. What sx 
subject of greater glory to be a citizen of the Re- 
public of the Church which has lasted for nine* 

1 I'salm ci. 27-29. 
F 



82 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

teen centuries, and will continue till time shall be 
no more ; which counts her millions of children in 
every clime; which numbers her heroes and her mar- 
tyrs by the thousand; which associates you with 
the Apostles and Saints. " You are no more strangers 
and foreigners, but you are fellow-citizens with the 
Saints and the domestics of God, built upon the foun- 
dation of the Prophets and Apostles, Jesus Christ 
Himself being the chief corner-stone." ^ Though sep- 
arated from earthly relatives and parents, you need 
never be separated from her. She is ever with us 
to comfort us. She says to us what her divine 
Spouse said to His Apostles : " Behold, I am with 
you all days, even to the consummation of the 
world.'* ' 



CHAPTER VII. 

INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH. 

THE Church has authority from God to teach re- 
garding faith and morals ; and in her teaching 
ihe is preserved from error by the special guidance 
>f the Holy Ghost. 

The prerogative of infallibility is clearly deduced 
^om the attributes of the Church already mentioned. 
The Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. 
Preaching the same creed everywhere, and at all 

1 Ep}.. ii. 19, 20. 2 Matt, xxviu. 20. 



INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY. 83 

times ; teaching holiness and truth, she is, of course, 
essentially unerring in her doctrine ; for what is one, 
holy, or unchangeable, must be infallibly true. 

That the Church was infallible in the Apostolic 
age, is denied by no Christian. We never question 
the truth of the Apostles' declarations ; ^ they were, 
in fact, the only authority in the Church for the 
first century. The New Testament was not com- 
pleted till the close of the first century. There is 
no just ground for denying to the Apostolic teach 
ers of the nineteenth century in which we live, a 
prerogative clearly possessed by those of the first, 
especially as the divine Word nowhere intimates 
that this unerring guidance was to die with the 
Apostles. On the contrary, as the Apostles trans- 
mitted to their successors their power to preach, to 
baptize, to ordain, to confirm, etc., they must also 
have handed down to them the no less essential gift 
of infallibility. 

God loves us as much as He loved the primitive 
Christians ; Christ died for us as well as for them ; 
and we have as much need of unerring teachers as 
they had. 

It will not suffice to tell me: "We have an infalli- 
ble Scripture as a substitute for an infallible aposto- 
late of the first century,^' for an infallible book is of 
no use to me without an infallible interpreter, as th*? 
history of Protestantism too clearly demonsiraies. 

But besides these presumptive arguments, we ha^"« 

1 See Gal. iv. 14; II. Thess. ii. 13. 



84 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

positive evidence from Scripture that the Church 
cannot err in her teachings. Our blessed Lord, in 
constituting St. Peter Prince of His Apostles, says 
to him : " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will 
build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it." ^ Christ makes here a solemn 
prediction that no error shall ever invade His 
Church ; and if she fell into error, the gates of hell 
have certainly prevailed against her. 

The Reformers of the sixteenth century affirm that 
the Church did fall into error ; that the gates of hell 
did prevail against her ; that from the sixth to the 
sixteenth century she was a sink of iniquity. The 
Book of Homilies of the church of England says 
that the Church " lay buried in damnable idolatry 
for eight hundred years and more." The personal 
veracity of our Saviour and of the Reformers is here 
at issue, for our Lord makes a statement which they 
contradict. Who is to be believed, Jesus or the Re- 
formers ? 

If the prediction of our Saviour about the pres- 
ervation of His Church from error be false, then 
Jesus Christ is not God, since God cannot lie. He 
is not even a Prophet, since He predicted falsehood. 
Nay, He is an impostor, and all Christianity is a 
miserable failure and a huge deception, since it rests 
on a false Prophet. 

But if Jesus predicted the truth when He declared 
that the gates of hell should not prevail against 

^ Matt. xvi. 18. 



INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY. 



85 



His Church, — aDd who dare deny it? — then the 
Church never has, and never could have fallen from 
the truth ; then the Catholic Church is infallible, foi 
she alone claims that prerogative, and she is the only 
Church that is acknowledged to have existed from 
the beginning. Truly is Jesus that wise Architect 
mentioned in the Gospel, "who built his house upon 
a rock ; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and 
the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and 
it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock."^ 

Jesus sends forth the Apostles with plenipotentiary 
powers to preach the Gospel. " As the Father," 
He says, " hath sent Me, I also send you." ^ *' Going 
therefore, teach all nations, teaching them to observe 
all things whatsoever I have commanded you." ^ 
" Preach the Gospel to every creature." * " Ye 
shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all 
Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part 
of the earth." ^ 

This commission evidently applies not to the 
Apostles only, but also to their successors, to the 
end of time, since it was utterly impossible for the 
Apostles personally to preach to the whole world. 

Not only does our Lord empower His Apostles 
to preach the Gospel, but He commands, and under 
the most severe penalties, those to whom they preach 
to listen and obey. " Whosoever will not receive 
you, nor hear your words, going forth from that 

' Matt. vii. 24, et seq. * John xx. 21. 

» Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. * Mark xvi. lo. ^ Acts i. 8. 



86 THE FAirn of our fathers. 

house or city, shake the dust from your feet. Amen, 
I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land 
of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment 
than for that city."^ " If he will not hear the 
Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and the 
publican." ^ " He that believeth shall be saved ; he 
that believeth not, shall be condemned." ^ " He that 
heareth you, heareth Me ; he that despiseth you, de- 
spiseth Me ; and he that despiseth Me, despiseth Him 
that sent Me." * 

From these passages, we see, on the one hand, that 
the Apostles and their successors have received full 
powers to announce the Gospel ; and on the other, 
that their hearers are obliged to listen with docility, 
and to obey not merely by an external compliance, 
but also by an internal assent of the intellect. If, 
therefore, the Catholic Church could preach error, 
would not God Himself be responsible for the error ? 
And could not the faithful soul say to God with all 
reverence and truth : Thou hast commanded me, 
O Lord, to hear Thy Church. If I am deceived by 
obeying her, Thou art the cause of my error. 

But we may rest assured that an all-wise Provi- 
dence who commands His Church to speak in His 
name, will so guide her in the path of truth that she 
shall never lead into error those that follow her 
teachings. 

But as this privilege of Infallibility was a very 

1 Matt. X. 14, 15. 2 Matt, xviii. 17. » Mark xvi. 16. 
* Luke X. 16. 



INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY. 87 

extraordinary favor, our Saviour confers it on the 
rulers of His Church in language which removes all 
doubt from the sincere inquirer, and under circum- 
stances which add to the majesty of His word. 
Shortly before His death, Jesus consoles His disciples 
by this promise : '* I will ask the Father, and He 
shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide 
with you forever, . . . But when He, the Spirit of 
truth, shall come, He will teach you all truths ^ 

The following text of the same import forms the 
concluding words recorded of our Saviour in St. 
Matthew's Gospel : " All power is given to Me in 
heaven and on earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach 
all nations, . . . teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded you. And behold, 
I am with you all days, even to the consummation of 
the world."^ 

He begins by asserting His own divine authority 
and mission. " All power is given,'' etc. Thai 
power He then delegates to His Apostles and to 
their successors : " Go ye, therefore, and teach all 
nations," etc. He does not instruct them to scatter 
Bibles broadcast over the earth, but to teach by 
word of mouth. "And behold!" Our Saviour 
never arrests the attention of His hearers by using 
the interjection, behold, unless when He has some- 
thing unusually solemn and extraordinary to com- 
municate. An important announcement is sure to 
follow this word. " Behold, I am with you." 

* John xiv. 16 ; ivi. 13. ' Matt, xxviii. 



88 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

These words, "/ am with you,^^ are frequently 
addressed in Sacred Scripture, by the Almighty, to 
His Prophets and Patriarchs, and they always 
Imply a special presence and a particular super- 
vision of the Deity.^ They convey the same mean- 
ing in the })resent instance. Christ says equivalently, 
I who " am the way, the truth, and the life," will 
protect you fiom error, and will guide you in your 
speech. I will be with you, not merely during yotiT 
natural lives, not for a century only, but all days, 
at all times, without intermission, even to the end 
of the world. 

These words of Jesus Christ establish two impor- 
tant facts : 1. A promise to guard His Church from 
error. 2. A promise that. His presence with the 
Church will be continuous, without any interval of 
absence, to the consummation of the world. 

And this is also the sentiment of the Apostle of 
the Gentiles writing to the Ephesians : God " gave 
some indeed Apostles, and some Prophets, and som© 
Evangelists, and others Pastors and Teachers, for 
the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the min- 
istry, for the building up of the body of Christ, un- 
til we all meet in the unity of faith, . . . that we 
may no more be children, tossed to and fro, and 
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the 
wickedness of men, in craft, by which they lie iu 
wait to deceive." ^ 

Notwithstanding these plain declarations of Scrip- 

1 Ex. iii. 12; Jer. xv. 20, etc ^ ^ph. iv. 11-14. 



INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY. 89 

tare, some persons tliink it an unwarrantable assump- 
tion for the Church to claim infallibility. But mark 
the consequences that follow from denying it. 

If your church is not infallible, it is liable ti err 
for there is no medium between infallibility and lia 
bility to error. If your church and her ministers 
are fallible in their doctrinal teachings, as they 
admit, they may be preaching falsehood to you, 
instead of truth. If so, you are in doubt whulher 
you are listening to truth or falsehood. If you aie 
in doubt, you can have no faith, for faith excludes 
doubt, and in that state you displease God, for 
" without faith it is impossible to please God." ^ 
Faith and infallibility must go hand in hand. The 
one cannot exist without the other. There can be 
no faith in the hearer unless there is unerring au- 
thority in the speaker — an authority founded upon 
such certain knowledge as precludes the possibility 
of falling into error on his part, and including such 
unquestioned veracity as to prevent his deceiving 
him who accepts his word. 

You admit infallible certainty in the physical 
sciences ; why should you deny it in the science of 
salvation? The mariner, guided by his compass, 
knows, amid the raging storm and the darkness of 
the night, that he is steering his course directly tG 
the city of his destination ; and is not an infallible 
guide as necessary to conduct you to the city of God 
in heaven ? 

1 Heb. xi. 6. 

8* 



90 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

It is very strange that the Catholic Church must 
apologize to the world for simply declaring that she 
speaks the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 
the truth. 

Children of the Catholic Church, give thanks to 
God for naving made you members of that Com- 
munion in which you are preserved from all errors 
in faith, and from all illusion in the practice of vir- 
tue. You are happily strangers to those interior 
conflicts, to those perplexing doubts, and to that 
frightful uncertainty which distract the souls of 
those whose private judgment is their only guide. 
Yon are not, like others, drifting helplessly ovei 
the ocean of uncertainty, and "carried about by 
every w^ind of doctrine.'* You are not as " blind 
men led by blind guides." You are not like those 
who are in the midst of a spiritual desert inter- 
sected by various by-paths, not knowing vvhich to 
pursue ; but you are on that high road spoken of 
by the prophet Isaiah, which is so *' straight a way, 
that fools shall not err therein.'* ^ You are a part 
of that universal Communion which has no " High 
church" and "Low church;" no "New School" 
and " Old School," for you all belong to that School 
which is " ever ancient and ever new." You enjoy 
that profound peace and tranquillity which springs 
from the conscious possession of the whole truth. 
Well may you exclaim : " Behold how good and how 
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." * 

^ Isaiiih XXXV. 8. ^ Ps. cxxxii. 



INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY. 91 

From what has been said in the preceding pages, 
it follows that the Catholic Church cannot be re- 
formed. I do not mean, of course, that the Pastors 
of the Church are personally impeccable, or not sub- 
ject to sin. Every teacher in the Church, from the 
Pope down to the humblest Priest, is liable at any 
moment, like any of the faithful, to fall from grace, and 
to stand in need of moral reformation. We all carry 
" this treasure (of innocence) in earthen vessels." 

My meaning is, that the Church is not susceptible 
of being reformed in her doctrines. The Church is 
the work of an Incarnate God. Like all God's 
works, it is perfect. It is, therefore, incapable of 
reform. Is it not the height of presumption for 
men to attempt to improve upon the work of 
God? Is it not ridiculous for the Luthers, the 
Calvins, the Knoxes, and the Henries, and a thou- 
sand lesser lights, to be offering their amendments 
fco the Constitution of the Church, as if it were a 
human Institution ? 

Our Lord Himself has never ceased to rule per- 
sonally over His Church. It is time enough for lit- 
tle men to take charge of the Ship when the giCat 
Captain abandons the helm. 

A Protestant gentleman of very liberal educa- 
tion remarked to me, before the opening of the late 
Ecumenical Council : " I am assured, sir, by a friend, 
in confidence, that, at a secret Conclave of Bisbop& 
recently held in Rome, it was resolved that che 
Dogma of the Immaculate Conception would be re- 



92 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

considered and abolished at the approaching Gren- 
eral Council ; in fact, that the definition was a mis- 
take, and that the blunder of 1854 would be repaired 
m 1869." I told him, of course, that no such ques- 
tion could be entertained in the Council ; that the 
doctrinal decrees of the Church were irrevocable, 
and that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception 
was defined once and forever. 

If only one instance could be given in which the 
Church ceased to teach a doctrine of faith which had 
been previously he)d, that single instance would be 
the death-blow of her claim to infallibility. But it 
is a marvelous fact worthy of record, that in the 
whole history of the Church, from the nineteenth 
century to the first, no solitary example can be ad- 
duced to show that any Pope or General Council 
ever revoked a decree of faith or morals enacted by 
any preceding Pontifi* or Council. Her record in 
the past ought to be a sufficient warrant that she will 
tolerate no doctrinal variations in the future. 

If, as we have seen, the Church has authority from 
God to teach, and if she teaches nothing but the 
truth, is it not the duty of all Christians to hear 
her voice and obey her commands ? She is the 
organ of the Holy Ghost. She is the Representa- 
tive of Jesus Christ, who has said to her : " He that 
heareth you, heareth Me; he that despiseth you, 
despiseth Me." She is the Mistress of truth. It is 
the property of the human mind to embrace truth 
wherever it finds it. It would, therefore, be not 



INFALLIBLE AUTHORITY. 96 

only an act of irreverence, but of sheer folly, to dis- 
obey the voice of this ever-truthful Mother. 

If a citizen is bound to obey the laws of his coun- 
try, though these laws may not in all respects be 
conformable to strict justice; if a child is bound by 
natural and divine law to obey his mother, though 
she may sometimes err in her judgments, how much 
more strictly are not we obliged to be docile to the 
teachings of the Catholic Church, our Mother, whose 
admonitions are always just, whose precepts are im- 
mutable ! 

" For twenty years/' observed a recently converted 
Minister of the Protestant Church, " I fought and 
struggled against the Church with all the energy 
of my will. But W'hen I became a Catholic, all my 
doubts ended, my inquiries ceased. I became as a 
little child, and rushed like a lis23ing babe into the 
arms of my mother." By Baptism, Christians become 
children of the Church, no matter who pours upon 
them the regenerating waters. If she is our Mother, 
where is our love and obedience ? When the infant 
seeks nourishment at its mother's breast, it does not 
analyze its food. When it receives instructions from 
its mother's lips, it never doubts, but instinctively 
believes. When the mother stretches forth her 
hand, the child follows unhesitatingly. The Chris- 
tian should have for his spiritual Mother all the 
simplicity, all the credulity, I might say, of a child, 
guided by the instincts of ^ith. " Unless ye become,'^ 
j-ays our Lord, " as little children, ye shall not entei 



94 



THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 



into the Kingdom of Heaven/'^ "As new-born 
babes, desire the rational milk without guile; that 
thereby you may grow unto salvation."^ In her 
dourishment there is no poison ; in her doctrines 
there is no guile. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. 

THE Church, as we have just seen, is the only 
divinely-constituted teacher of Revelation. 

Now, the Scripture is the great Depository of 
the Word of God. Therefore, the Church is the 
divinely appointed Custodian and Interpreter of 
the Bible. For, her office of infallible Guide were 
superfluous, if each individual could interpret the 
Bible for himself. 

That God never intended the Bible to be the 
Christian's rule of faith, independently of the living 
authority of the Church, will be the subject of this 
chapter. 

No nation ever had a greater veneration for the 
Bible than the Jewish people. The Holy Scripture 
was their pride and their glory. It was their 
national song in time of peace ; it was their medita- 
tion and solace in time of tribulation and exile. 
And yet the Jews never dreamed of settling their 

^ Matt xviii. 3. L Pet. ii. 2. 



THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. 



95 



religious controversies by a private appeal to the 
Word of God. 

Whenever any religious dispute arose among the 
people, it was decided by the High Priest and the 
Sanhedrim, which was a council consisting of seven- 
ty-two civil and ecclesiastical Judges. The sentence 
of the High Priest and of his associate Judges was 
to be obeyed under penalty of death. " If thou per- 
ceive,'' says the Book of Deuteronomy, " that there 
be among you a hard and doubtful matter in judg- 
ment, . . . thou shalt come to the priests of the Le- 
vitical race, and to the Judge, . . . and they shall 
show thee the truth of the judgment. . . . And thou 
shalt follow their sentence ; neither shalt thou decline 
to the right hand, nor to the left. . . . But he that 
will . . . refuse to obey the commandment of the 
priest, . . . that man shall die, and thou shalt take 
away the evil from Israel." ^ 

From this clear sentence, you perceive that God 
does not refer the Jews, for the settlement of their 
controversies, to the letter of the law, but to the 
living authority of the Ecclesiastical tribunal which 
He had expressly established for that purpose. 

Hence, the priests were required to be intimately 
acquainted with the Sacred Scripture, because they 
were the depositaries of God's law, and were its ex- 
pounders to the people. " The lips of the priest 
shall keep knowledge, and they (the people) shall 
seek the law at his mouth, because he is the angel 
(or messenger) of the Lord of Hosts." * 

^ Deut. xvii. 8, el seq. ^ Mai. ii. 7. 



96 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

And, in fact, very few of the children of Israel, 
except the priests, were in possession of the divine 
Books. The holy manuscript was rare and precious. 
And what provision did God make that all the peo- 
ple might have an opportunity of hearing the Scrip- 
tures ? Did He command the Sacred Volume to be 
multiplied ? No ; but He ordered the priests and 
Levites to be distributed through the different tribes, 
that they might always be at hand to instruct the 
people in the knowledge of the law. The Jews were 
even forbidden to read certain portions of the Scrip- 
ture till they had reached the age of thirty years. 

Does our Saviour reverse this state of things when 
He comes on earth ? Does He tell the Jews to be 
their own guides in the study of the Scriptures ? 
By no means ; but He commands them to obey their 
constituted teachers, no matter how disedifyiug 
might be their private lives. " Then said Jesus to 
the multitudes and to His disciples : The Scribes 
and Pharisees sit upon the chair of Moses. AlJ 
things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you. 
observe and do.'' ^ 

It is true, our Lord said on one occasion : " Search 
the Scriptures, for you think in them to have 
life everlasting, and the same are they that give 
testimony to Me." ^ This passage is triumphantly 
quoted as an argument in favor of private interpre- 
tation. But it proves nothing of the kind. Many 
learned commentators, ancient and modern, express 

^Matt. xxiii. 2, 3. -John r. 39. 



THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. 91 

the verb in the indicative mood : " Ye search the 
Scriptures/' At all events, our Saviour speaks here 
only of the Old Testament, because the New Testa- 
ment was not yet written. He addresses not the 
multitude, but the Pharisees, who were the teacheis 
of the law, and reproaches them for not admitting 
His divinity. *' You have," He says, " the Scrip- 
tures in your hands ; why then do you not recognize 
me as the Messiah, since they give testimony that 
I am the Son of God?" He refers them to the 
Scriptures for a proof of His Divinity, not as to a 
source from which they were to derive all knowl- 
edge in regard to the truths of revelation. 

Besides, He did not rest the proof of His Divinity 
upon the sole testimony of Scripture. For He 
showed it 

1. By the testimony of John the Baptist (v. 33), 
who had said, " Behold the Lamb of God ; behold 
Him w^ho taketh away the sins of the w^orld." See 
also John i. 34. 

2. By the miracles which He wrought (v. 36) ; 

3. By the testimony of the Father (v. 37), wheo 
He said : " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
weil pleased, hear ye Him." Matt. iii. 16 ; Luke 
ix. 35. 

4. By the Scriptures of the Old Testament ; as if 
He were to say, "If you are unwilling to receive 
these three proofs, though they are most cogent, at 
least you cannot reject the testimony of the Scrip- 
tures, of which you boast so much." 

9 a 



98 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Fically, in this very passage our Lord is explain- 
ing the sense of Holy Writ ; therefore, its true mean- 
ing is not left to the private interpretation of every 
chance reader. It is, therefore, a grave perversion of 
the sacred Text, to adduce these words in vindica- 
tion of the private interpretation of the Scriptures. 

But when our Redeemer abolished the Old Law, 
and established His Church, did He intend that His 
Gospel should be disseminated by the circulation of 
the Bible, or by the living voice of His disciples ? 
This is a vital question. I answer most emphatically, 
that it was by preaching alone that He intended to 
convert the nations, and by preaching alone they 
were converted. No nation has ever yet been con- 
verted by the agency of Bible Associations. 

Jesus Himself never wrote a line of Scripture. 
He never once commanded His Apostles to write a 
word,^or even to circulate the Scriptures already 
existing. When He sends them on their Apostolic 
errand. He says : " Go teach all nations." ^ " Preach 
the Gospel to every creature."^ "He that heareth 
you, heareth Me." ^ And we find the Apostles act- 
ing in strict accordance with these instructions. 

Of th(^ twelve Apostles, the seventy-two disci} >les, 
ajid early followers of our Lord, only eight have 
tell us any of their sacred writings. And the 
Gospels and Epistles were addressed to particular 
persons or particular churches. They were written 
on" the occasion of some emergency, just as Bishops 

^ Matt, xxviii. 19. ^jy^^rk xvi. 15. ^ Luke x. 16. 

*Note: Except when He directed St. John to write the 
Apocalypse, i. 11. 



TM£ CHURCH AND THE BlbLfe 99 

issn e Pastoral letters, to correct abuses which \ laj 
spring up in the Church, or to lay down some rules 
of conduct for the faithi'ul. The Apostles are 
never reported to have circulated a single voh 
ume of the Holy Scripture, but "they going forth, 
preached everywhere, the Lord co-operating with 
them."^ 

Thus we see that in the Old and the New Dispen- 
sation, the people were to be guided by a living 
authority, and not by their private interpretation 
of the Scriptures. 

Indeed, until the religious Revolution of thfe 
sixteenth century, it was a thing unheard of from 
the beginning of the world, that people should be 
governed by the dead letter of the law either in 
civil or ecclesiastical affairs. How are your civil 
affairs regulated in this State, for instance? Cer- 
tainly not in accordance with your personal inter- 
pretation of the laws of Virginia, but in accordance 
with decisions which are ^^ndered by the constituted 
judges of the State. 

Now what the civil code is to the citizen, the 
Scripture is to the Christian. The Word of God, as 
well as the civil law, must have an interpreter, by 
whose decision we are obliged to abide. 

We often hear the shibboleth : " The Bible, and 
the Bible only must be your guide.'' Why then 
do you go to the useless expense of building fine 
churches, and Sabbath-schools? What is the use 

J Mark xvi. 20. 



100 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

of your preaching sermons and catechizing the 
young, if the Bible at home is a sufficient guide for 
your people ? The fact is, you Reverend gentlemen 
contradict in practice what you so vehemently ad- 
vance in theory. Do not tell me that the Bible is 
all-sufficient ; or, if you believe it is self-sufficient, 
cease your instructions. Stand not between the 
people and the Scriptures. 

I will address myself now in a friendly spirit to 
a non-Catholic, and will proceed to show him that 
he cannot consistently accept the silent Book of 
Scripture as his sufficient guide. 

A copy of the sacred volume is handed to you by 
your minister, who says : " Take this book ; you will 
find it all-sufficient for your salvation." But here 9 
serious difficulty awaits you at the very threshold of 
your investigations. What assurance have you that 
the book he hands you is the inspired Word of God ; 
for every part of the Bible is far from possessing in- 
trinsic evidences of inspiration ? It may, for aught 
you know, contain more than the Word of God, or 
it may not contain all the Word of God. We must 
not suppose that the Bible was always, as it is now, 
a compact book, bound in a neat form. It was for 
several centuries in scattered fragments, spread over 
different parts of Christendom. Meanwhile, many 
spurious books, under the name of Scripture, were 
circulated among the faithful. There was, for in- 
stance, the spurious Gospel of St. Peter ; there was 
also the Gospel of St. James and of St. Matthias. 



THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. 101 

The Catholic Church, in the plenitude of her au- 
thority, in the third Council of Carthage, (A. D. 
397,) separated the chaff from the wheat, and de- 
clared wliat Books ^yere Canonical, and what were 
apocryphal. Even to this day, the Christian sects 
do not agree among themselves as to what books 
are to be accepted as genuine. Some Christians 
of continental Europe do not recognize the Gospels 
of St. Mark and St. Luke, because these EvaDgelisis 
were not among the Apostles. Luther used to call 
the Epistle of St. James a letter of straw. 

But even when you are assured that the Bible 
contains the Word of God, and nothing but the 
Word of God, how do you know that the transla- 
tion is faithful? The Books of Scripture were 
originally written in Hebrew and Greek, and you 
have only the translation. Before you are certain 
that the translation is faithful, you must study the 
Hebrew and Greek languages, and then compare the 
translation with the original. How few are capa- 
ble of this gigantic undertaking ! 

Indeed, when you accept the Bible as the Word 
of God, you are obliged to receive it on the author- 
ity of the Catholic Church, who was the sole Guar- 
dian of the Scriptures for fifteen hundred years. 

But after having ascertained to your satisfaction 
that the translation is faithful, still the Scriptures 
can never serve as a complete Rule of Faith, and a 
complete guide to heaven, independently of an au- 
thorized, living interpreter. 
9* 



102 THE FAITH OF OUE FATHERS. 

A competent guide, such as our Lord intended for 
as, must have three characteristics. It must be 
within the reach of every one ; it must be clear and 
intelligible; it must be able to satisfy us on all 
questions relating to faith and morals. 

1st. A complete guide of salvation must be with- 
in the reach of every inquirer after truth ; for, God 
" wishes all men to be saved, and to come to the 
knowledge of the truth ; " ^ and therefore He must 
have placed within the reach of every one the means 
of arriving at the truth. Now, it is clear that the 
Scriptures could not at any period have been ac- 
cessible to every one. 

They could not have been accessible to the primitive 
Christians, because they were not all written for a long 
time after the establishment of Christianity. The 
Christian religion was founded in the year 33. St. 
Matthew^'s Gospel, the first part of the New Testa- 
ment ever written, did not appear till eight years 
after. The Church was established about twenty 
years, when St. Luke wrote his Gospel. And St. 
John's Gospel did not come to light till towards the 
end of the first century. For many years after the 
Gospels and Epistles were written, the knowledge of 
tliem was confined to the churches to which they were 
addressed. It was not till the close of the fourth 
century tliat the Church framed her Canon of 
Scripture, and declared the Bible, as we now jrosses? 
it, to be the genuine Word of God. And this was 

1 1. Tim. ii. 4. 



THE CHURCH AXD THE BIBLE. 103 

the golden age of Christianity ! The most perf3ct 
Christians lived and died and \vent to heayen be- 
fore the most important parts of the Serif hires 
were written. And ^vhat would have become of 
them if the Bible alone had been their guide ? 

The art of printing was not invented till the 
fifteenth century, (1440.) How utterly impossible 
it was to supply every one with a copy of the Scrip- 
tures /rom the fourth to the fifteenth century ! During 
that long period, Bibles had to be copied with the 
pen. There were but a few hundred of them in the 
Christian world, and these were in the hands of the 
clergy and the learned. " According to the Prot- 
estant system, the art of printing would have been 
much more necessary to the Apostles than the gift 
of tongues. It was well for Luther that he did not 
come into the world until a centur}" after the im- 
mortal discovery of Guttenberg. A hundred years 
earlier, his idea of directing two hundred and fifty 
millions of men to read the Bible would have been 
received with shouts of laughter, and would in- 
evitably have caused his removal from the pulpit 
of Wittenberg to a hospital for the insane." ^ 

And even at the present day^ with all the aid of 
steam printing-presses, with all the Bible Associa 
tions extending through this country and Euglaud 
and supported at enormous expense, it taxes all theij 
energies to supply every missionary country with 

^ Martinet, Religion in Society, Vol. II., c. 10. 



104 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Bibles printed in the languages of the tribes and 
peoples for whom they are intended. 

But even if the Bible were at all times accessible 
to every one, how many millions exist in every age 
and country, not excepting our own age of boasted 
enlightenment, who are not accessible to the Bible, 
because they are incapable of reading the Word of 
God ! Hence, the doctrine of private interpretation 
would render many men's salvation not only diffi- 
cult, but impossible. 

2d. A competent religious guide must be clear 
and intelligible to all, so that every one may fully 
understand the true meaning of the instructions it 
contains. Is the Bible a book intelligible to all? 
Far from it; it is full of obscurities and difficulties 
not only for the illiterate, but even for the learned. 
St. Peter himself informs us that in the Epistles 
of St. Paul there " are certain things hard to be 
understood, which the unlearned and the unstable 
wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, to their 
own destruction."^ And consequently he tells us 
elsewhere " that no prophecy of Scripture is made 
by private interpretation." * 

We read in the Acts of the Apostles that a cer- 
tain man was riding in his chariot, reading the Book 
of Isaiah, and being asked by St. Philip whether he 
anderstood the meaning of the prophecy, he replied : 
'* How can I understand unless some man show me ? '* ' 

» II. Pet. iii. 16. « Ibid. i. 20. » Acts viii 31. 



THE CHURCH AND THE BIBl^. 



105 



admitting, by these modest words, that he did not 
pretend of himself to interpret the Scriptures. 

The Fathers of the Church, though maiiy of tliem 
spent their whole lives in the study of the Scriptures, 
are unanimous in pronouncing the Bible a book 
full of knotty difficulties. And yet we find in our 
days pedants, with a mere smattering of biblical 
knowledge, who see no obscurity at ail in the Word 
of God, and who presume to expound it from Genesis 
to Revelation. " Fools rush in where angels fear 
to tread." 

Does not the conduct of the Reformers conclusively 
show the utter folly of interpreting the Scriptures 
by private judgment? As soon as they rejected the 
oracle of the Church, and set up their own private 
judgment as the highest standard of authority, they 
could hardly agree among themselves on the mean- 
ing of a single important text. The Bible became 
in their hands a complete Babel. The sons of 
Noe attempted in their pride to ascend to heaven 
by building the tower of Babel ; and their scheme 
ended in the confusion and multiplication of tongues. 
The children of the Reformation endeavored in their 
conceit to lead men to heaven by the private inter- 
pretation of the Bible, and their efforts led to the 
confusion and the multiplication of religions. Let 
me give you one example out of a thousand. These 
words of the Gospel, "This is My body,'' were 
understood only in one sense before the Reforma- 
lion. The new lights of the sixteenth century gave 



106 THE FAITH OF OUK FATHERS. 

no fewer than eighty different meanings to th-ese 
four simple words ; and since their time the number 
of interpretations has increased to over a hundred. 

No one will deny that in our days there exists a 
vast multitude of sects, which are daily multiplying. 
No one will deny ^ that this multiplying of creeds is a 
crying scandal, and a great stumbling-block in the 
way of the conversion of heathen nations. No one 
can deny that these divisions in the Christian family 
are traceable to the assumption of the right of pri- 
vate judgment. Every new-fledged divine, with a 
superficial education, imagines that he has received 
a call from heaven to inaugurate a new religion, and 
he is ambitious of handing down his fame to pos- 
terity by stamping his name on a new sect. And 
every one of these champions of modern creeds 
appeals to the unchanging Bible in support of his 
ever-changing doctrines. 

Thus, one body of Christians will prove from the 
Bible that there is but one Person in God; while 
the rest will prove from the same source that a 
Trinity of Persons is a clear article of divine Revela- 
tion. One will prove from the Holy Book that Jesus 
Christ is not God. Others will appeal to the same 
text to attest His divinity. One denomination will 
assert on the authority of Scripture that infant 
baptism is not necessary for salvation ; while others 
will hold that it is. Some Christians, with Bible 

* Except, perhaps, Rev. H. W. Beecher, who thinks that 
♦od is glorified by the variety of sects. 



THE CHURCH AND THE BIEr.E. 107 

in hand, will teach that there are no sacraments. 
Others will say that there are only two. Some will 
declare that the inspired Word does not preach the 
eternity of punishments. Others will say that the 
Bible distinctly vindicates that dogma. Do not 
clergymen appear every day in the pulpit, and on 
Aie authority of the Book of Revelation, point oui 
to us with painful accuracy the year and the day 
on which this world is to come to an end? AnO 
when their prophecy fails of execution, they coolly 
put off our destruction to another time. 

Very recently, several hundred Mormon w^omec 
presented a petition to the government at Washing- 
ton, protesting against any interference with theii 
abominable system of polygamy ; and they insist 
that their cherished system is sustained by the Woird 
of God. 

Such is the legitimate fruit of private interpreta-. 
tioni Would it not be extremely hazardous to 
make a long voyage in a ship where all the officers 
and crew are fiercely contending among themselves 
about the manner of explaining the compass, and of 
steering their course ? How much more dangerous 
is it to trust to contending captains in the journey 
to heaven ? Nothing short of an infallible authority 
should satisfy you, when it is a question of steering 
your course to eternity. On this vital question there 
saould be no conflict of opinion among those that 
gi ide you. There should be no conjecture. But 
ti.ere must be always some one at the helm whose 



I(^ THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

roice gives assurance, amid the fiercest storms, tl^^ 

M is well. 

3d. A rule of Faith, or a competent guide to 
heaven, must be able to instruct in all the truths 
necessary for salvation. Now the Scriptures ahme 
do not contain all the truths which a Christian is 
bound to believe, nor do they explicitly enjoin all 
the duties which he is obliged to practice. Not to 
mention other examples, is not every Christian 
obliged to sanctify Sunday, and to abstain on that 
day from unnecessary servile work? Is not the 
observance of this law among the most prominent 
Df our sacred duties ? But you may read the Bible 
from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a 
single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. 
The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of 
Saturday, a day which we never sanctify. 

The Catholic Church correctly teaches that our 
Lord and His Apostles inculcated certain important 
duties of religion which are not recorded by the 
inspired writers.^ For instance, most Christians pray 
w the Holy Ghost, a practice which nowhere b 
found in the Bible. 

We must, therefore, conclude that the Scriptures 
alone cannot be a sufficient guide and rule of Faith. 
because thfL'y cannot, at any lime, be within the 
reach of every inquirer ; because they are not of 
themselves clear and intelligible even in matters of 
the highest importance, and because they do not 
contain all the truths necessary for salvation. 
^ See John xxi. 25 j II. Thess. ii. 14. 



THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLR. lOli 

God forbid that any of my readers should be 
tempted to conclude, from what I have said, that 
the Catholic Church is opposed to the reading of the 
Scriptures, or that she is the enemy of the Bible. 
The Catholic Church the enemy of the Bible 1 
Good God, what monstrous ingratitude, what base 
calumny is contained in that assertion! As well 
might you accuse the Virgin Mother of trying to 
crush the Infant Saviour at her breast, as to accuse 
the Church, our Mother, of attempting to crush out 
of existence the Word of God. As well might you 
charge the patriotic statesman with attempting to 
destroy the constitution of his country, while he 
strove to protect it from being mutilated by unprin- 
cipled demagogues. 

For fifteen centuries, the Church was the sole 
guardian and depository of the Bible ; and if she 
really feared that sacred Book, who was to prevent 
her, during that long period, from tearing it in 
shreds and scattering it to the winds ? She could 
have thrown it into the sea, as the unnatural mother 
would throw away her offspring, and who would 
have been the wiser for it ? 

What has become of those millions of once famous 
books which were written in past ages? They have 
nearly all perished. But amid this wreck of 
ancient literature the Bible stands almost a solitary 
monument, like the Pyramids of Egypt amid the 
surrounding wastes. That venerable Volume ha« 
survived the wars and revolutions and the barbjiric 
10 



110 THE FAITH OF OUE FATHERS. 

invasioDS of fifteen centuries. Who rescued it ft cm 
destruction? The Catholic Church. Without her 
fostering care, the New Testament would probably 
be as little known to-day as " the Book of the Days 
of the Kings of Israel."^ 

Little do we imagine, in our age of steam printing, 
how much labor it cost the Church to preserve and 
perpetuate the Sacred Scriptures. Learned monks, 
who are now abused in their graves by thoughtless 
men, were constantly employed in copying with the 
pen the Holy Bible. When one monk died at his 
post, another took his place, watching like a faithful 
sentinel over the treasure of God's W:.ra. 

Let me give you a few plam facts to show the 
pains which the Church has taken to perpetuate the 
Scriptures. 

The Canon of the Bible, as we have seen, was 
framed in the fourth century. In that same century. 
Pope Damasus commanded a new and complete trans- 
lation of the Scriptures to be made into the Latin 
language, which was then the living tongue not only 
of Rom4e and Italy, but of the civilized world. 

If the Popes were afraid that the Bible should 
see the light, this was a singular way of manifesting 
their fear. 

The task of preparing a new edition of the Scrip- 
tures was assigned to St. Jerome, the most learne<l 
Hebrew scholar of his time. This new translation 
was disseminated throughout Christendom, and on 

'' III. Kings xiv. 19. 



THE CUORCH AND THE BIBLE. Ill 

that account was called the Vulgate, or popular 
edition. 

In the sixth and seventh centuries, the modern 
languages of Europe began to spring up like so 
many shoots from the parent Latin stock. The 
Scriptures soon also found their way into these 
languages. The venerable Bede, who lived in 
England in the eighth century, and whose name is 
profoundly reverenced in that country, translated 
the Sacred Scriptures into Saxon, which was then 
the language of England. He died while dictating 
the last verses of St. John's Gospel. 

Prinittig was invented in the fifteenth century, and 
almost a hundred years later came the Reformation. 
It is often triumphantly said, and I suppose there 
are some who, even at the present day, are ignorant 
enough to believe the assertion, that the first edition 
of the Bible ever published after the invention of 
printing, was the edition of Martin Luther. The 
fact is, that before Luther put his pen to paper, no 
fewer than fifty-six editions of the Scriptures had 
appeared on the continent of Europe, not to speak 
of those printed in Great Britain. Of those edition.^ 
twenty-one were published in German ; one in 
-jpanish ; four in French ; twenty-one in Italian , 
five in Flemish, and four in Bohemian. 

Coming down to our own i^imes, if vou open an 
English Catholic Bible, you will find in tne preface 
a letter of Pope Pius VI., in which he strongly 
recommends the pious reading of the Holy Scrip- 



112 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

tures. A Pope's letter is the most weighty author- 
ity iu the Church. You will also fiud in Haydock^s 
Bible the letters of the Bishops of the Uuited States, 
iu which they express the hope that this splendid 
edition would have a wide circulation among their 
flocks. 

These facts ought, I think, to convince every can- 
did mind that the Church, far from being opposed 
to the reading of the Scriptures, does all she can to 
encourage their perusal. 

A gentleman of North Carolina lately informed 
me that the first time he entered a Catholic book- 
store, he was surprised at witnessing on the shelves 
an imposing array of Bibles for sale. Up to that 
moment he had believed the unfounded charge that 
Catholics were forbidden to read the Scriptures. 
He has since embraced the Catholic faith. 

And perhaps I may be permitted here to record 
my personal experiences during a long course of 
study. I speak of myself, not because my case is 
exceptional, but, on the contrary, because my exam- 
ple will serve to illustrate the system pursued toward 
ecclesiastical students in all colleges throughout the 
Catholic world, in reference to the Holy Scriptures. 

In our course of Humanities, we listened every 
day to the reading of the Bible. When we were 
advanced to the higher branches of Philosophy and 
Theology, the study of the Sacred Scriptures formed 
an important part of our education. We read 
besides, every day, a chapter of the New restameni, 



PRIMACY OF PETER. US 

not standing or sitting, but on our knees, and tJiPT) 
reverently kissed the inspired page. We listen txl 
each day, to selections from the Bible, at our meals, 
and we always carried about us a copy of the New 
Testament. 

So familiar, indeed, were the students with the 
sacred Volume, that many of them, on listening to 
a few verses, could tell from what portion of the 
Scriptures you were reading. The only dread we 
were taught to have of the Scriptures, was that of 
reading them without fear and reverence. 

And after his ordination, every priest is obliged in 
conscience to devote upwards of an hour each day 
to the perusal of the Word of God. I am not aware 
that clergymen of other denominations are bound 
by the same duty. 

What is good for the clergy must be good also for 
the laity. Be assured that if you become a Catholic, 
you will never be forbidden to read the Bible. It i^ 
our earnest wish that every word of the Gospel may 
be imprinted on your memory and on your heart. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE PRIMACY OF PETER. 

THE Catholic Church also teaches that our Lord 
conferred on St. Peter the first place of honor 
and jurisdiction in the government of His whole 
10* H 



114 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Church, and that the same spiritual supremacy has 
always resided in the Popes, or Bishops of Rome, 
as being the successors of St. Peter. Consequently, 
to he true followers of Christ, all Christians, both 
Rniong the clergy and the laity, must be in commu- 
nion with the See of Rome, where Peter rules in the 
person of his successor. 

Before coming to any direct proofs on this subject, 
1 may state that in the Old Law, the High Priest, 
appointed by Almighty God, filled an office analo- 
gous to that of Pope in the New Law. In the 
Jewish Church, there were priests and levites 
ordained to minister at the altar ; and there was 
also a supreme ecclesiastical tribunal, with the 
High Priest at its head. All matters of religious 
controversy were referred to this tribunal ; and in 
the last resort, to the High Priest, whose decision 
was enforced under pain of death ! '* If there be a 
hard matter in judgment between blood and blood, 
cause and cause, leprosy and leprosy, . . . thou shalt 
come to the priests of the levitical race, and to the 
judge, . . . and they shall show thee true judg- 
ment. And thou shalt do whatever they say who 
preside in the place which the Lord shall choose, 
and thou shalt follow their sentence. And thou 
shalt not decline to the right hand, or to the left. 
. . . But he that . . . will refuse to obey the com- 
mandment of the priest, who ministereth at the time, 
, . . that man shall die, and thou shalt take away 
tlie evil from Israel. '^ ^ 

^ Deut. xvii. 



PBIMACY OF PETER. 116 

From til is passage, it is evident that in the Hebrew 
Church the High Priest had the highest jurisdiction 
in religious matters. By this means, unity of faith 
and worship \Yas preserved among the people of God. 

Now the Jewish synagogue, as St. Paul testifies, 
was the type and figure of the Christian Church ; 
for, "all things happened to them (the Jews) in 
figure."^ We must, therefore, find in the Church 
of Christ a spiritual judge, exercising the same 
supreme authority as the High Priest wielded in the 
Old Law. For, if a supreme Pontiff was necessary, 
in the Mosaic dispensation, to maintain purity and 
uniformity of worship, the same dignitary is equally 
necessary now to preserve unity of faith. 

Every well-regulated civil government has an ac- 
knowledged Head. The President is the Head of 
the United States Government. Queen Victoria is 
the Ruler of Great Britain. The Sultan sways the 
Turkish Empire. If these nations had no author- 
ized leader to govern them, they would be reduced 
to the condition of a mere mob, and anarchy and 
confusion and civil war would inevitably follow, as 
recently happened to France after the fall of Na- 
poleon in. 

Even in every well-ordered family, domestic peace 
requires that some one preside. 

Now, the Church of Christ is a visible society, 
that is, a society composed of human beings. She 
has, it is true, a spiritual end in view ; but having to 

* I. Cor. I. 11 



116 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS, 

deaJ with meD, she must have a goverument as well 
as every other organized society. This government, 
at least in its essential elements, our Lord must have 
established for His Church. For, was He not asi 
wise as human legislators ? And shall we sup])()»e 
that, of all lawgivers, the Wisdom Incarnate alone 
left His Kingdom on earth to be governed without 
a Head ? 

But some one will tell me : " We do not deny 
that the Church has a Head. God Himself is its 
Ruler." This is evading the real question. Is 
not God the Ruler of all governments? " By Me," 
He says, ** kings reign, and lawgivers decree just 
things." ^ He is the recognized Head of our Re- 
public, and of every Christian family in the land ; 
but, nevertheless, there is always presiding over 
the country a visible chief, who represents God on 
earth. 

In like manner the Church, besides an invisible 
Head in heaven, must have a visible Head on earth. 
The body and members of the Church are visible ; 
why not also the Head? The Church without a 
supreme Ruler, would be like an army without a gen- 
eral ; a navy without an admiral ; a sheepfold without 
a shepherd ; or like a human body without a head. 

The Christian communities separated from the 
Catholic Church, deny that Peter received any au- 
thority over the other Apostles, and hence they rejeci 
the supremacy of the Pope. 

^ Prov. viii. 15. 



PRIMACY OF PETER. 117 

The absence from the Protestant communions of 
a divinely-appointed, visible head, is to them an end- 
less source of weakness and dissensions. It is an in- 
sepurable barrier against any hope of a permanent 
reunion among themselves, because they are lefl 
without a common rallying centre or basis of union, 
and are placed in an unhappy state of schism. 

The existence, on the contrary, of a supreme judge 
of controversy in the Catholic Church, is the secret 
of her admirable unity. This is the key-stone that 
binds together and strengthens the imperishable arch 
of faith. 

From the very fact, then, of the existence of a 
supreme head in the Jewish Church ; from the fact 
that a head is always necessary for civil govern- 
ments, for families, and corporations ; from the fact, 
especially, that a visible Head is essential to the 
maintenance of unity in the Church, while the 
absence of a Head necessarily leads to anarchy, we 
are forced to conclude, even though positive evi- 
dence were wanting, that, in the establishment of 
His Church, it must have entered into the mind of 
the divine Lawgiver to place over it a Primate in- 
vested with superior judicial powers. 

But have we any positive proof that Christ did 
a})point a supreme Ruler over His Church ? To 
those, indeed, who read the Scriptures with the sin- 
gle eye of pure intention, the most abundant evi- 
dence of this fact is furnished. To my mind, the New 
Testament establishes no doctrine, unless it satisfie:^ 



118 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

every candid reader that our Lord gave pleniputen- 
tiaiy powers to Peter to govern the whole Church. 
In ihis chapter I shall speak of the Promise, the In- 
stitution, and the exercise of Peter's Primacy, as 
recorded in the New Testament. The next chapter 
ehUl be devoted to its perpetuity in the Popes. 

Promise of the Primacy, Our Saviour, on a certain 
DC ;asion, asked His disciples, saying : " Whom do 
m n say that the Son of man is ? And they said : 
S< me say that Thou art John the Baptist; and 
oi lers, Elias ; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the 
P ophets. Jesus saith to them : But whom do ye 
Si y that I am ? " Peter, as usual, is the leader and 
spokesman. " Simon Peter answering, said : Thou 
art Christ, the Sou of the liviug God. And Jesus 
answering said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon 
Bar-Jona : because flesh and blood hath not revealed 
it to thee, but My Father who is in heaven. And I 
say to thee : that thou art Peter, and upon this rock 
I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven : and whatsoever 
thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound also in 
heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, 
shall be loosed also in heaven."^ Here we find 
Peter confessing the divinity of Christ, and in re- 
ward for that confession he is honored with the 
Promise of the Primacy. 

Our Saviour, by the words " thou art Peter/' 

1 Matt. xvi. 13-19. 



PRIMACY OF PETER. 119 

clearly alludes to the new name which He Himself 
had conferred upon Simon, when He received him 
into the number of His followers (John i. 42) ; and 
He now reveals the reason for the change of name, 
which was to insinuate the honor He was to confei 
on him, by appointing him President of the Chris- 
tian Republic ; just as God, in the Old Law, changed 
Abram's name to Abraham, when He chose him to 
be the father of a mighty nation. 

The word Peter, in the Syro-Chaldaic tongue, which 
our Saviour spoke, means a rock. The sentence runs 
thus in that language : " Tliou art a rock, and on 
this rock I ivill build My Church,^^ Indeed, all re- 
spectable Protestant commentators have now aban- 
doned, and even ridicule, the absurdity of apply- 
ing the word rock to any one but to Peter ; as the 
sentence can bear no other construction, unless our 
Lord's good grammar and common sense are called 
in question. 

Jesus, our Lord, founded but one Church, which 
He was pleased to build on Peter. Therefore, any 
church that does not recognize Peter as its founda- 
tion stone, is not the Church of Christ, and there- 
fore cannot stand, for it is not the work of God. 
This is plain. AVould to God that all would see it 
aright, and with eyes free from prejudice. 

He continues : " And I will give to thee the keys 
of the kingdom of heaven," etc. In ancient times, 
and particularly among the Hebrew people, keys 
were an emblem of jurisdiction. To affirm that a 



]%) THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

man bad received the keys of a city, was equivalent to 
the assertion that he had been appointed its governor. 
In the Book of Revelation, our Saviour rays that 
He has "the keys of death and of hell,"^ v/bich 
means that He is endowed with power over d-'ath 
and hell. lu fact, even to this day, does no>' the 
presentation of keys convey among ourselves :he 
idea of authority ? If the proprietor of a he use, 
on leaving it for the summer, says to any fri^-nd : 
" Here are the keys of my house," would not this 
simple declaration, without a word of explana- 
tion, convey the idea, " I give you full control 
of my house. You may admit or exclude whom 
you please. You represent me in my absence " ? Let 
us now apply this interpretation to our Redeemer's 
words. When He says to Peter: '*I will give to 
thee the keys," etc., He evidently means : I will give 
thee supreme authority over My Church, which is 
the citadel of faith, My earthly Jerusalem. Thou 
and thy successors shall be My visible representa- 
tives to the end of time. And be it remembered 
that to Peter alone, and to no other Apostle, were 
these solemn words addressed. 

Fulfilment of the Promise, The promise which oui 
Redeemer made of creating Peter the supreme 
Ruler of His Church, is fulfilled in the following 
passage : " Jesus saith to Simon Peter : Simon, son 
of John, lovest thou Me more than these ? He saith 
to Him ; Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee, 

1 Rev. i. 18. 



PRIMACY OF PETER, 121 

He saith to him : Feed My lambs. He saith to him 
again : Simon, sou of John, lovest thou Me ? He 
saith to Him : Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love 
Thee. He saith to him ; Feed My lambs. He saith 
to him the third time : Simon, son of John, lovest 
thou Me ? Peter was grieved because He had sai^ 
to him the third time : Lovest thou me ? And he 
said to him : Lord, Thou knowest all things. Thou 
knowest that I love Thee. He said to Mm : Feed 
My sheep." ^ 

These words were addressed by our Lord to Peter 
after His resurrection. The whole sheepfold of 
Christ is confided to him, without any exception or 
limitation. Peter has jurisdiction not only over the 
lambs, — the weak and tender portion of the flock, — 
by which are understood the faithful ; but also over 
the sheep, i. e., the Pastors themselves, who hold the 
same relations to their congregations that the sheep 
hold to the lambs, because they bring forth, unto 
Jesus Christ, and nourish the spiritual lambs of the 
fold. To other Pastors a certain portion of the 
flock is assigned ; to Peter, the entire fold ; for, 
never did Jesus say to any other Apostle or Bishop 
what He said to Peter : Feed My whole flock. 

Candid rv^ader, do you not profess to be a membei 
of Christ's floTik ? Yes, you answer. Do you take 
your spiritual food from Peter, and from his suc- 
cessor ? and do you hear the voice of Peter ? or have 

' John xri. 15-17. 
11 



!22 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS, 

you wandered into the fold of strangers who spurn 
Peter's voice? Ponder well on this momentous' 
question. For, if Peter is authorized to feed th*^ 
lambs of Christ's flock, the lambs should hear 
Peter's voice. 

Exercise of the Primacy. In the Acts of the 
Apostles, which contain almost the only Scripture 
narrative that exists of the Apostles subsequent to 
our Lord's ascension, St. Peter appears before us, 
like Saul among the tribes, standing head and 
shoulders over his brethren by the prominent part 
he takes in every ministerial duty. 

The first twelve chapters of the Acts are devoted 
to Peter, and to some of the other Apostles ; the re- 
maining chapters being chiefly occupied with the 
labors of the Apostle of the Gentiles. In that brief 
historical fragment, as well as in the Gospels, the 
name of Peter is everywhere pre-eminent. 

Peter's name always stands first in the lists of the 
Apostles ; while Judas Iscariot is invariably men- 
tioned last.^ Peter is even called by St. Matthew 
the first Apostle, Now Peter was first neither in age 
nor in priority of election, his elder brother Andrew 
having been chosen before him. The meaning, there- 
fore, of the expression must be, that Peter was first 
not only in rank and honor, but also in authority. 

Peter is the first Apostle who performed a miracle.' 
He is the first to address the Jews in Jerusalem, 
while his Apostolic brethren stand respectfully 

1 Matt. X. 2 ; Mark iii. 16 ; Luke vi. 14; Acts i. 14. 
' Acts iii. 



PRIMACY OF PETER. 123 

around him ; upon which occasion he converts three 
thousand souls.^ 

Peter is the first to make converts from the Gen- 
tile world in the persons of Cornelius and his 
friends.^ 

When it is a question of electing a successor to 
Judas, Peter alone speaks. He points out to the 
A-postles and disciples the duty of choosing another 
to succeed the traitor. The Apostles silently ac- 
quiesce in the instructions of their leader.' 

In the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem, Peter 
is the first whose sentiments are recorded. Before 
his discourse, *' there was much disputing.'' But 
when he had ceased to speak, "all the multitude 
held their peace." ^ 

St. James and the other Apostles concur in the 
sentiments of Peter without a single dissenting 
voice. 

St. James is cast into prison by Herod, and 
afterwards beheaded. He was one of the three 
most favored Apostles. He was the cousin of our 
Lord and brother of St. John. He was most dear 
to the faithful. Yet no extraordinary efforts are 
made by the faithful to rescue him from death. 

Peter is imprisoned about the same time. The 
whole Church is aroused. Prayers for his deliver- 
ance ascend to heaven, not only from Jerusalem, 
but also from every Christian family in the land.* 
The army of the Lord can afford to lose a chieftain 

^ Acts ii. * Acts X. 'Acts i. * Acts xv. ^Acta xii. 



124 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

in the person of James ; but it cannot yet spare the 
commander-in-chief. The enemies of the Church 
had hoped that the destruction of the chief shepherd 
would involve the dispersion of the whole flock. 
Therefore they redoubled their fury against the 
Prince of the Apostles, just as her modern enemies 
concentrate their shafts against the Pope, his suc- 
cessor. Does not this incident eloquently proclaim 
Peter's superior authority? In fact, Peter figures 
so conspicuously in every page, that his Primacy is 
not only admissible, but is forced on the judgment 
of the impartial reader. 

What are the principal objections which are ad- 
vanced against the Primacy of Peter? They are 
chiefly, I may say exclusively, confined to the three 
following : 1. That our Lord rebuked Peter ; 2. that 
St. Paul criticised his conduct on a point not aflTect- 
ing doctriDe, but discipline. The Apostle of the 
Gentiles blames St. Peter because he withdrew for 
a time from the society of the Gentile converts, for 
fear of scandalizing the newly-converted Jews.* 
3. That the supremacy of Peter conflicts with the 
supreme dominion of Christ. 

For my part, I cannot see how these objections 
can invalidate the claims of Peter. Was not Jesus 
Peter's superior ? And may not a superior rebuke 
his servant, without infringing on the servant's pre- 
rogatives ? 

And why could not St. Paul censure the conduct 

^ Gal. ii. 11. 



mm 



PRIMACY OF PETEf,. 125 

of St. Peter, without questioninc^ that superior's 
authority? It is not a very uncommon thing foi 
ecclesiastics occupying an inferior position in the 
Church to admonish evjn the Pope. St. Bernaid, 
though only a monk, wrote a work in which, with 
Apostolic freedom, he administers counsel to Pope 
Eugenius III., and cautions him against the dangers 
to which his eminent position exposes him. Yet 
no man had more reverence for any Pope than 
Bernard had for this great PontiiT. Cannot our 
Governor animadvert upon the President's conduct 
without impairing the President's jurisdiction ? 

Nay, from this very circumstance, I draw a con- 
firming evidence of Peter's supremacy. St. Paul 
mentions it as a fact worthy of record, that he 
actually withstood Peter to his face. Do you think 
it would be worth recording, if Paul had rebuked 
James, or John, or Barnabas? By no means. If 
one brother rebukes another, the matter excites no 
special attention. But if a son rebukes his father, 
or if a Priest rebukes his Bishop to his face, we 
understand why he would consider it a fact worth 
relating. Hence, when St. Paul goes to the trouble 
of telling us that he took exception to Peter's con- 
duct, he mentions it as an extraordinary exercise of 
Apostolic freedom, and leaves on our minds the ob- 
vious inference that Peter was his superior. 

In the very same Epistle to the Galatians, St 
Paul plainly insinuates St. Peter's superior rank. 
" I went," he says, " to Jerusalem to see Peter, and 
11 ♦ 



126 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

I tarried with him fifteen days."^ Saints Chrys^^s- 
tom, Jerome, and Ambrose tell us that this was not 
an idle visit of ceremony, but that the object of St. 
Paul, in making the journey, was to testify his re- 
spect and honor for the chief of the Apostles. 

There are others who pretend, in spite ot our 
liord's declaration to the contrary, that loyalty to 
Peter is disloyalty to Christ, and that by acknowl- 
edging Peter as the rock on which the Church is 
built, we set our Saviour aside. So far from this 
being the case, we acknowledge Jesus Christ as the 
** Chief corner-stone," as well as the divine Architect 
of the building. 

The true test of loyalty to Jesus is not only to 
worship Himself, but to venerate even the repre- 
sentatives whom He has chosen. Will any one pre- 
tend to say that my obedience to the Governor's 
appointee, is a mark of disrespect to the Governor 
himself? I think our State Executive would have 
little faith in the allegiance of any citizen who would 
say to him : " Governor, I honor you personally, but 
y^ur officiaFs order I shall disregard." 

St. Peter is called the first Bishop of Rome, be- 
cause he transferred his See from Antioch to Rome, 
where he suflfered martyrdom with St. Paul. 

We are not surprised that modern skepticism, 
whi^h rejects the divinity of Christ, and denies even 
the existence of God, should call in question the fact 
that St. Peter lived and died in Rome. 

^Gal. i. 18. 



PRIMACY OF PETER. 127 

The reason commonly alleged for disputing tbia 
well-attested event, is that the Acts of the Apostles 
make no mention of Peter's labors and martyrdom 
in Rome. For the same reason, we might deny that 
St. Paul was beheaded in Rome, that St. John dice 
in Ephesus, and that St. Andrew was crucified. Tl e 
Scripture is silent regarding these historical records, 
and yet they are denied by no one. 

The intrinsic evidence of St. Peter's first Epistle, the 
testimony of his immediate successors in the ministry, 
as well as the avowal of eminent Protestant commen- 
tators, all concur in fixing the See of Peter in Rome. 

" BabyloD," from which Peter addresses his first 
Epistle, is understood by learned annotators, Prot- 
estant and Catholic, to refer to Rome, — the word 
Babylon being symbolical of the corruption then 
prevailing in the city of the Caesars. 

Clement, the fourth Bishop of Rome, who is 
mentioned in terms of praise by St. Paul ; St 
Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, who died in 105; 
Irenaeus, Origen, St. Jerome, Eusebius the great his- 
torian, and other eminent writers, testify to St. Peter's 
residence in Rome ; while no ancient ecclesiastical 
writer has ever contradicted the statement. 

John Calvin, a witness above suspicion, Cave» an 
able Anglican critic, Grotius, and other distinguii^hed 
Protestant writers, do not hesitate to re-echo the 
unanimous voice of Catholic tradition. 

Indeed, no historical fact will escape the shafts 
of incredulity, if St. Peter's residence and glorious 
martyrdom in Rome are called in question. 



128 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHEBfl. 

CHAPTER X. 

THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPE. 

THE Church did not die with Peter, but \^a8 
destined to continue till the end of time. Con- 
sequently, whatever official prerogatives were con- 
ferred on Peter, were not to cease at his death, but 
were to be handed down to his successors from 
generation to generation. The Churcn is in all 
ages as much in need of a Supreme Ruler as it 
was in the days of the Apostles. Nay more ; as the 
Church is now more widely diffused than it was 
then, and is ruled by frailer men, it is more than 
ever in need of a central power to preserve its unity 
of faith and uniformity of discipline. 

Whatever privileges, therefore, were conferred 
on Peter, which may be considered essential to the 
government of the Church, are inherited by the 
Bishops of Rome, as successors of the Prince of the 
Apostles ; just as the constitutional powers given to 
George Washington have devolved on the present 
incumbent of the Presidential chair. 

Peter, it is true, besides the prerogatives inherent 
in his office, possessed also the power of working 
miracles, and the gift of inspiration. These two 
latter gifts are not claimed by the Pope, as they 
were personal to Peter, and by no means essential 
to the government of the Church. God acts towards 



SUPREMACY OF THE POPES. 129 

His Church as we deal with a tender sapling. 
When we first plant it, we water it, and soften the 
clay about its roots. But when it takes deep root, 
we leave it to the care of Nature's laws. In like 
manner, when Christ first planted His Church, He 
nourished its infancy by miraculous agency ; but 
when it grew to be a tree of fair proportions, He 
left it to be governed by the general laws of His 
Providence. 

From what I have said, you can easily infer that 
the arguments in favor of Peter's Primacy have 
equal weight in demonstrating the supremacy of the 
Popes. 

As the present question, however, is a subject of 
vast importance, 1 shall endeavor to show, from in- 
contestable historical evidence, that the Popes have 
always, from the days of the Apostles, continued to 
exercise supreme jurisdiction, not only in the 
Western church, till the Reformation, but also 
throughout the Eastern church, till the great 
schism of the ninth century. 

1. Take the question of appeals. An appeal is 
never made from a superior to an inferior court, noi 
even from one court to another of co-ordinate juris- 
diction. We do not appeal from Washington to 
Richmond, but from Richmond to Washington 
Now, if we find the See of Rome, from the fouuda- 
tion of Christianity, entertaining and deciding casct 
of appeal from the Oriental churches ; if we find 
that her decision was final and irrevocable, we must 

I 



180 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

conclude that the supremacy of Rome over all the 
churches is au undeniable fact. 

Let me give you a few illustrations : 

To begin with Pope St. Clement, who was the 
ehird successor of St. Peter, and who is laudably 
mentioned by St. Paul in one of his Epistles. Some 
dissension and scandal having occurred in the church 
of Corinth, the matter is brought to the notice of 
Pope Clement. He at once exercises his supreme 
authority by writing letters of remonstrance and ad- 
monition to the Corinthians. And so great was the 
reverence entertained for these Epistles, by the 
faithful of Corinth, that for a century later it was 
customary to have them publicly read in their 
churches. "Why did the Corinthians appeal to Rome 
far away in the West, and not to Ephesus so near 
nome in the East, where the Apostle St. John 
still lived? Evidently because the jurisdiction of 
Ephesus was local, while that of Rome was univer- 
sal. 

About the year 190, the question regarding the 
proper day for celebrating Easter was agitated in 
tha East, and referred to Pope St. Victor I. The 
Eastern church generally celebrated Easter on the 
day on which the Jews kept the Passover ; while in 
the West it was observed then, as it is now, on the 
first Siiuday after the full moon of the vernal equi- 
nox. St. Victor directs the Eastern churches, for the 
sake of uniformity, to conform to the practice of tho 
West, and his instructions are universally followed. 



SUPREMACY OF THE POPES. 131 

Dionysius, Bishop of Rome, about the middle of 
the third century, having heard that the Patriarch 
of Alexandria erred on some points of faith, demands 
an explanation of the suspected Prelate, who, in 
obedience to his superior, promptly vindicates his 
own orthodoxy. 

St. Athanasius, the great Patriarch of Alexandria, 
appeals in the fourth century, to Pope Julius I., from 
an unjust decision rendered against him by the 
Oriental bishops ; and the Popeh^everses the sentence 
of the Eastern council. 

St. Basil, Archbishop of C^esarea, in the same 
century, has recourse, in his afflictions, to the protec- 
tion of Pope Damasus. 

St. John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople, 
appeals in the beginning of the fifth century, to Pope 
Innocent I., for a redress of grievances inflicted on 
him by several Eastern Prelates, and by the Em- 
press Eudoxia of Constantinople. 

John, Abbot of Constantinople, appeals from the 
decision of the Patriarch of that city to Pope St, 
Gregory I., who reverses the sentence of the Patri- 
arch. 

In 859, Photius addressed a letter to Pope 
Nicholas I., asking the Pontiff to confirm his elec- 
tion to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In con- 
sequence of the Pope's conscientious refusal, Photius 
broke off from the communion of the Catholic 
Church, and became the author of the Greek schism. 
Here are a few examples taken at random from 
^ Socrates' Ecclesia^^tical History, B. II., c. xv. 



182 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Church History. We see Prelates most eminent 
for their sanctity and learning, occupying the high- 
est position in the Eastern church, and consequently 
far removed from the local influences of Rome, ap- 
pealing, in every period of the early Church, from 
the decisions of their own Bishops and their Coun- 
cils to the supreme arbitration of the Holy See. If 
this does not constitute superior jurisdiction, I have 
yet to learn what superior authority means. 

2. Christians of every denomination admit the 
orthodoxy of the Fathers of the first five centuries 
of the Church. No one has ever called in question 
the faith of such men as Basil, Chrysostom, Cyprian, 
Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, and Leo. They were 
the acknowledged guardians of pure doctrine, and 
the living representatives '• of the faith once delivered 
to the saints." They were to the Church in their 
generation what Peter and Paul and James were to 
the Church in its infancy. We instinctively consult 
them about the faith of those times ; for, to whom 
shall we go for the words of eternal life, if not to 
them? 

Now, the Fathers of the Church, with one voice, 
pay homage to the Bishops of Rome as their supe- 
riors. The limited space I have allowed myself in 
this little volume, will not permit me to give any 
extracts from their writings. The reader who may 
be unacquainted with the original language of the 
Fathers, or who has not their writings at hand, is 
referred to a work entitled, "Faith of Catholics/' 



SUPREMACY OF THE POPES, 133 

where he will find, in an English translation, copious 
extracts from their writings, vindicating the Primacy 
of the Popes. 

3. Ecumenical Councils afford another eloquent 
vindication of Papal supremacy. An Ecumenical 
or General Council is an assemblage of Prelates rep- 
resenting the whole Catholic Church. A General 
Council is to the Church what the Executive and 
Legislative bodies in Washington are to the United 
States. 

Up to the present time, nineteen Ecumenical 
Councils have been convened, including the Council 
of the Vatican. The last eleven were held in the 
West, and the first eight in the East. I will pass 
over the Western Councils, as no one denies that 
they were subject to the authority of the Pope. 

I shall briefly speak of the important influence 
which the Holy See exercised in the eight Oriental 
Councils. 

The first General Council was held in Nicsea, in 
325 ; the second, in Constantinople, in 381 ; the 
third, in Ephesus, in 431 ; the fourth, in Chalcedon, 
in 451 ; the fifth, in Constantinople, in 553 ; the 
sixth, in the same city, in 680 ; the seventh, in 
Nic2ea, in 787 ; and the eighth, in Constantinople, is 
869. 

The Bishops of Rome convoked these assemblages 

or at least consented to their convocation ; they pre 

sided by their legates over all of them, except th< 

first and second councils of Constantinople, and the^ 

12 



134 THE FAITH OF OIJR FATHERS. 

confirmed all these eight by their authority. Before 
becoming a law, the acts of the Councils required 
the Pope's signature, just as our Congressional pro- 
ceedings require the President's signature before they 
acquire the force of law. 

Is not this a striking illustration of the Primacy? 
The Pope convenes, rules, and sanctions the Synods, 
Qot by courtesy, but by right. A dignitary who 
calls an assembly together, who presides over its de- 
liberations, whose signature is essential for confirming 
its acts, has surely a higher authority than the other 
members. 

4. I shall refer to one more historical point in sup- 
port of the Pope's jurisdiction over the whole Church. 
It is a most remarkable fact that every nation 
hitherto converted from Paganism to Christianity, since 
the days of the Apostles, ha^ received the light of faith 
from missionaries who were either especially commis- 
sioned by the See of Rome, or sent by Bishops in open 
communion voith that See. This historical fact admits 
of no exception. Let me particularize : 

Ireland's Apostle is St. Patrick. Who commis- 
siciied him ? Pope St. Celestine, in the fifth century. 

St. Palladius is the Apostle of Scotland. Who 
sent him ? The same PontiflT, Celestine. 

England received the faith from St. Augustine, a 
Benedictine monk, as all historians Catholic and 
Qon-Catholic testify. Who empowered Augustine 
to preach ? Pope Gregory I., at the end of the sixi d 
century. 



SUPREMACY OF THE POPES. 136 

St Remigius established the faith in France, at 
the close of the fifth century. He was in active com- 
munion with the See of Peter. 

Flanders received the Gospel in the seventh cen- 
tury from St. Eligius, who acknowledged the su- 
premacy of the reigning Pope. 

Germany and Bavaria venerate as their Apostle 
St. Boniface, who is popularly known in his native 
England by his baptismal name of Winfrid. He 
was commissioned by Pope Gregory II., in the be- 
ginning of the eighth century, and was consecrated 
Bishop by the same Pontiif. 

In the ninth century, two saintly brothers, Cyril 
and Methodius, evangelized Russia, Sclavonia, and 
Moravia, and other parts of Northern Europe. They 
recognized the supreme authority of Pope Nicholas 
L, and of his successors, Adrian II. and John VIII. 

In the eleventh century, Norway was converted 
by missionaries introduced from England by the 
Norwegian King St. Olave. 

The conversion of Sweden was consummated in 
the same century by the British Apostles Saints 
Ulfrid and Eskill. Both of these nations immedi- 
ately after their conversion commenced to pay Rome- 
scot, or a small annual tribute to the Holy See, — 
a clear evidence that they were in communion with 
the Chair of Peter.^ 

All the other nations of Europe, having been con- 
verted before the Reformation, received likewise the 

^See Hutier'^ Lives of the Saints,— St. Olave, July 29th. 



136 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

light of faith from Eoman Catholic Missionaries, 
because Europe then recognized only one Christian 
Chief. 

Passing from Europe to Asia and America, it is 
undeniable that St. Francis Xavier and the other 
Evangelists who, in the sixteenth century, extended 
the kingdom of Jesus Christ through India and 
Japan, were in communion with the Holy See ; and 
that those Apostles who, in the sixteenth and seven- 
teenth centuries, converted the aboriginal tribes of 
South America and Mexico, received their commis- 
sion from the Chair of Peter. 

But you will say: The people of the United 
States profess to be a Christian nation. Do you 
also claim them ? Most certainly ; for, even those 
American Christians who are unhappily severed 
from the Catholic Church, are primarily indebted 
for their knowledge of the Gospel to missionaries in 
communion with the Holy See. 

The white races of North America are descended 
from England, Ireland, Scotland, and the nations 
of Continental Europe. Those European nations 
having been converted by missionaries in subjection 
to the Holy See, it follows that from whatever part 
of Europe you are descended, whatever may be your 
[mrticular creed, you are indebted to the Church of 
Rome for your knowledge of Christianity. 

Do not these facts demonstrate the Primacy of the 
Pope ? The Apostles of Europe and of other coun- 
tries received their authority from Rome. Is not 



SUPREMACY OF THE POPES. 137 

the power that sends an ambassador greater than he 
who is sen t ? 

Thus we see that the name of the Pope is indelibly 
marked on every page of ecclesiastical history. The 
sovereign Pontiff ever stands before us as com* 
mander-in-chief in the grand army of the Church. 
Do the Bishops of the East feel themselves aggrieved 
at home by their Patriarchs or civil Rulers ? they 
look for redress to Rome, as to the star of their hope. 
Are the Fathers and Doctors of the early Church 
consulted ? with one voice they all pay homage to 
the Bishop of Rome as their spiritual Prince, is an 
Ecumenical Council to be convened in the East or 
West? the Pope is its leading spirit. Are new na- 
tions to be converted to the faith ? there is the Holy 
Father clothing the missionaries with authority, and 
giving his blessing to the work. Are new errors 
to be condemned in any part of the globe? all 
eyes turn towards the oracle of Rome to await his 
anathema, and his solemn judgment reverberates 
throughout the length and breadth of the Christian 
world. 

You might as well shut out the light of day and 
the air of heaven from your daily w^alk, as exclude 
the Pope from his legitimate sphere in the hierarchy 
of the Church. The history of the United States 
with the Presidents left out, would be more intelligi- 
ble than the history of the Church to the exclusion 
of the Vicar of Christ. How, I ask, could such great 
authority endure so long, if it were a usurpation ? 
12* 



1S8 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

But YOU will tell me: "The supremacy of the 
Pope has been disputed in many ages." So has the 
authority of God been called in question; nay, His 
very existence has been denied ; for, *^ the fool hath 
said in his heart, there is no God.'' ^ Does this 
denial destroy the existence and dominion of God ? 
Has not parental authority been impugned from the 
beginning? But by whom? By unruly children. 
Was David no longer king, because Absalom said 
so? 

It is thus also with the Popes. Their parental 
sway has been opposed only by their undutiful sons 
who grew impatient of the Gospel yoke. Photius, 
the leader of the Greek schism, was an obedient son 
of the Pope until Nicholas refused to recognize his 
usurped authority. Henry VIII. was a stout de- 
fender of the Pope's supremacy until Clement VIL 
refused to legalize his adultery. Luther professed 
a most abject submission to the Pope till LeoX. 
condemned him. 

You cannot, my dear reader, be a loyal citizen 
of the United States, while you deny the constitu- 
tional a ithority of the President. You have seen 
Uiat the Bishop of Rome is appointed not by man, 
but by Jesus Christ, President of the Christian 
commonwealth. You cannot, therefore, be a true 
citizen of the Republic of the Church so long as 
you spurn the legitimate supremacy of its divinely- 
constituted Chief. "He that is not with Me, i« 
against Me," says our Lord, " and he that gathereth 



SUPREMACY OF THE POPES. 



139 



Dot with Me, scattereth." How can you be witb 
Christ, if you are against His Vicar ? 

The great evil of our times is the unhappy divi- 
sion existing among the professors of Christianity, 
and from thousands of hearts a yearning cry goes 
forth for unity of faith and union of churches. 

It was, no doubt, with this laudable view, tha- 
the Evangelical Alliance assembled in New Yorl 
in the fall of 1873. The representatives of the 
diiferent religious communions hoped to effect t 
reunion. But they signally and lamentably failed 
Indeed, the only result which followed from the 
alliance, was the creation of a new sect under the 
auspices of Dr. Cummins. That reverend gentle- 
man, with the characteristic modesty of all reiigioir 
Reformers, was determined to have a hand in in: 
proving the work of Jesus Christ ; and, like the 
other Reformers, he said, with those who built the 
tower of Babel : " Let us make our name famous 
before " ^ our dust is scattered to the wind. 

The Alliance failed, because its members had no 
common platform to stand on. There was no voice 
in that assembly that could say with authority: 
" Thus saith the Lord.'* 

I heartily join in this prayer for Christian unity, 
and gladly would surrender my life for such a con- 
summation. But I tell you that Jesus Christ has 
pointed out the only means by which this unity can 
be maintained, viz. : the recognition of Peter and 
his successors as the head of the Church. Build upoD 
^ Gen. xi. 4. 



140 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

this foundation, and you will not erect a tower of 
Bubel, nor build upon sand. If all Christian sects 
w^-re united with the centre of unity, then the scat- 
tered hosts of Christendom would form an army 
which atheism and infidelity could not long with- 
stand. Then indeed all could exclaim with Balaam : 
" How beautiful are thy tabernacles, O Jacob, and 
thy tents, O Israel ! " ^ 

Let us pray that the day may be hastened when 
religious dissensions will cease, when all Christians 
will advance with united front, under one common 
leader, to plant the cross in every region and win 
qew kingdoms to Jesus Christ. 



CHAPTER XL 

INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 

A S the doctrine of Papal Infallibility is strangely 
IjL misapprehended by our separated brethren, be- 
cause it is grievously misrepresented by those who 
profess to be enlightened ministers of the Gospel, 
I shall begin by stating what Infallibility does not 
mean, and shall then explain what it really is. 

1st. The infallibility of the Popes does not signify 
that they are inspired. The Apostles were endowed 
with the gift of inspiration, and we accept their 
writings as the revealed word of God. 

^ Numb. xxiv. 5. 



INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES, 141 

No Catholic, on the contrary, claims that the 
Pope is inspired, or endowed with divine revelation 
properly so called. 

"For, the Holy Spirit was not promised to the 
successors of Peter in order that they might spread 
abroad new doctrine which He reveals, but that, 
under His assistance, they might guard inviolably, 
and with fidelity explain, the revelation or deposit 
of faith handed dowu by the Apostles/' ^ 

2d. Infallibility does not mean that the Pope is 
impeccable, or specially exempt from liability to 
sin. The Popes have been indeed, with few excep- 
tions, men of virtuous lives. Many of them are 
honored as martyrs. Seventy-nine, out of the 
two hundred and fifty-nine that sat on the chair 
of Peter, are invoked upon our altars, as saints emi- 
nent for their holiness. 

The avowed enemies of the Church charge only 
five or six Popes with immorality. Thus, even ad 
mitting the truth of the accusations brought against 
them, we have forty-three virtuous to one bad Pope, 
while there was a Judas Iscariot among the twelve 
Apostles. 

But although a vast majority of the sovereign 
Pontiffs should have been so unfortunate as to lead 
vicious lives, this circumstance would not of itself 
impair the validity of their prerogatives, which are 
given not for the preservation of their morals, but 
for the guidance of their judgment ; for, there wag 

^ Cone. Vat. Const. Pastor jEiernus. c 4. 



142 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

a Balaam among the Prophets, and a Caiphap 
among the High Priests of the Old Law. 

The present illustrious Pontiff is a man of no 
ordinary sanctity. He has already filled the high- 
est position in the Church for upwards of thirty 
years, " a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to 
men," and no man can point out a stain upon his 
moral character. 

And yet Pius IX., like his predecessors, confesses 
his sins every week. Each morning, at the begin- 
ning of Mass, he says at the foot of the altar, " I 
confess to Almighty God, and to His Saints, that I 
have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and 
deed." And at the Offertory of the Mass he says : 
" Receive, O Holy Father, almighty, everlasting 
God, this oblation which I, Thy unworthy ser- 
Vant, offer for my innumerable sins, offences, and 
negligences." 

With these facts before their eyes, I cannot com- 
prehend how ministers of the Gospel betray so much 
ignorance, or are guilty of so much malice, as to 
proclaim from their pulpits, which ought to be con- 
secrated to truth, that Infallibility means exemp- 
tion from sin. I do not see how they can benefit 
their cause by such flagrant perversions of truth. 

3d. Bear in mind, also, that this divine assistance 
is guaranteed to the Pope, not in his capacity as a 
private teacher, but only in his official capacity, 
when he judges of faith and morals as Head of the 
Church. If a Pope, for instance, like Benedi(ri 



INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 148 

XIV., were to write a treatise on Canon Law, his 
book would be as much open to criticism as thai of 
any doctor of the Church. 

4th. Finally, the inerrability of the Popes, be^'ng 
restricted to questions of faith and morals, does not 
extend to the natural sciences, such as astronomy oi 
geology, unless where error is presented under th( 
false name of science, and arrays itself against ro 
vealed truth.^ It does not, therefore, concern itself 
about the nature and motions of the planets. Koi 
does it regard purely political questions, such as the 
form of government a nation ought to adopt, or 
what candidates we ought to vote for. 

Consequently, the Pope's Infallibility does not in 
any way trespass on the civil authority. For, the 
Pope's jurisdiction belongs to spiritual matters; 
while the duty of the state is to provide for the tem- 
poral welfare of its subjects. 

What, then, is the real doctrine of Infallibility ! 
It simply means that the Pope, as successor of St. 
Peter, Prince of the Apostles, by virtue of the prom- 
ises of Jesus Christ, is preserved from error of judg- 
ment when he promulgates to the Church a decision 
on faith or morals. 

The Pope, therefore, be it known, is not the maker 
of the divine law ; he is only its expounder. He is 
not the author of revelation, but only its interpreter. 
All revelation came from God alone through His 
inspired ministers, and was complete in the begin- 

^ Cone, Vat. Const. Dei Filius, cap. 4 ; Coloss. ii. S. 



144 THE FAITH OF OTTR FATHERS. 

ning of the Church. The Holy Father has no mor«» 
authority than you or I to break one iota or tittle 
of the Scripture, and he is equally with us the j^er- 
vant of the divine law. 

In a word, the Sovereign Pontiff is to the Church, 
though in a more eminent degree, what the Chief 
Justice is to the United States. We have an instru- 
ment called the Constitution of the United States^ 
which is the charter of our civil rights and liberties. 
If a controversy arise between two States regarding 
a constitutional clause, the question is referred, ic 
the last resort, to the Supreme Court at Washington. 
The Chief Justice, with his associate judges, examine 
into the case, and then pronounces i^i-^gment upon 
it; and this decision is final. Irievocable, and prac- 
tically infallible. 

If there were no such court to settle constitutional 
questions, the Constitution itself would soon become 
a dead letter. Every litigant would conscientiously 
decide the dispute in his own favor, and anarchy and 
separation and civil war would soon follow. But 
by means of this Supreme Court, disputes are ended, 
and the political union of the States is perpetuated. 
There would have been no civil war in 1861, had 
.our domestic quarrel been submitted to the legiti- 
mate action of our highest court of judicature, 
instead of being left to the arbitrament of the 
sword. 

The revealed word of God is the constitution of 
the Church. This is the Magna Charki of oiu 



INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 145 

Christian liberties. The Pope is the official guar 
dian of our religious constitution, as the Chief Jus- 
tice is the guardian of our civil constitution. 

When a dispute arises in the Church regarding 
the sense of Scripture, the subject is referred tc 
the Pope for final adjudication. The soverpigii 
Pontiff, before deciding the case, gathers around 
him his venerable colleagues, the Cardinals of the 
Church ; or he calls a council of his associate judges 
of faith, the Bishops of Christendom ; or he has re- 
course to other lights which the Holy Ghost may 
suggest to him. Then, after mature and prayerful 
deliberation, he pronounces judgment, and his sen- 
tence is final, irrevocable, and infallible. 

If the Catholic Church were not fortified by this 
divinely-established supreme tribunal, she would be 
broken up like the sects around her into a thousand 
fragments, and religious anarchy w^ould soon follow. 
But by means of this infallible court, her marvel- 
lous unity is preserved throughout the world. This 
doctrine is the keystone in the arch of Catholic 
faith, and, far from arousing opposition, it ought to 
command the unqualified admiration of every re- 
flecting mind. 

These explanations being premised, let us now 
briefly consider the grounds of the doctrine itself. 

The following passages of the Gospel, spoken at 

different times, were addressed exclusively to Peter : 

"Thou art Peter; and on this rock I will build 

My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 

13 K 



146 THE FAITH OF OUK FATHERS. 

against it."^ " I, the supreme Architect of the uni- 
verse," says our Saviour, " will establish a Church 
which is to last till the end of time. I will lay the 
foundation of this Church so deep and strong on the 
rock of truth that the winds and storms of error 
shall never prevail against it. Thou, O Peter, shalt 
be the foundation of this Church. It shall never 
fall, because thou shalt never be shaken ; and thou 
shalt never be shaken, because thou shalt rest on 
Me, the rock of truth.'' The Church, of which 
Peter is the foundation, is declared to be impreg- 
nable, that is, proof against error. How can you 
suppose an immovable edifice built on a totter- 
ing foundation ? for it is not the ouilding that 
-sustains the foundation, but it is the foundation 
'which supports the building. 

" And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom 
>of heaven." '^ Thou shalt hold the keys of truth, 
with which to open to the faithful the treasures of 
heavenly science. " Whatsoever thou shalt bind 
on earth shall be bound also in heaven." ^ The 
judgment which thou shalt pronounce on earth I 
will ratify in heaven. Surely the God of truth is 
^incapable of sanctioning an untruthful judgment. 

" Behold, Satan hath desired to have you (mj 
Apostles), that he may sift you as wheat. But I 
4iave prayed for thee (Peter j that thy faith fail 
^noi; and thou, being once converted, confirm thy 
^brethren."* It is worthy of note that Jesus prays 

^ Matt. xvi. 2 Ibid. » Ibid. * Luke xxii. 81, S2. 



INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 147 

Duly tbi Peter. And why for Peter in particular? 
Because on his snoulders was to rest the burden of 
the Church. Our Lord prays for two- things: 1. 
That the faith of Peter and of his successors might 
not fail ; 2. That Peter would confirm his brethren 
in the faith, " in order," as St. Leo says, " that the 
strength given by Christ to Peter should descend 
on the Apostles." 

We know that the prayer of Jesus is always 
heard. Therefore the faith of Peter w411 always 
be firm. He was destined to be the oracle which 
all were to consult. Hence we always find him 
the prominent figure among the A postles ; the first 
to speak ; the first to act on every occasion. He 
was to be the guiding star that was to lead the 
rest of the faithful in the path of truth. He was 
to be in the hierarchy of the Church what the 
sun is in the planetary system — the centre around 
which all would revolve. And is it not a beautiful 
spectacle, in harmony with our ideas of God's provi- 
dence, to behold in His Church a counterpart of the 
starry system above us ? There, every planet moves 
in obedience to a uniform law, all of them regulateii 
by one great luminary. So, in the spiritual order, 
we see every member of the Church governed bj 
one law, controlled by one voice, and that voice sub- 
ject to God. 

"Feed My iambs; feed My sheep." ^ Peter is 
appoint3d by our Lord the universal shepherd of 

1 John xxi. 16. 17. 



148 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Hi:j Hock — of the sheep and of the lambs, that 
is. iihepherd of the Bishops and Priests as well 
as of the people. The Bishops are shepherds, in 
reference to their flocks ; they are sheep, in refer- 
ence to the Pope, T^dio is the shepherd of shepherds. 
The Pope, as shepherd, must feed the flock not with 
the poison of error, but with the healthy food of 
sound doctrine ; for he is not a shepherd, but a 
hireling, who administers pernicious food to his 
flock. 

Among the General Councils of the Church al- 
ready held, I shall mention only three, as the acts 
of these Councils are amply sufficient to vindicate 
the unerring character of the See of Rome and the 
Roman Pontifls. I wish also to call your attention 
to three facts: 1. That none of these Councils were 
held in Rome ; 2. That one of them assembled in 
the East, viz., in Constantinople ; and, 3. That in 
every one uf them the Oriental and the Western 
Bishops met for the purpose of reunion. 

The Eighth General Council, held in Constanti- 
nople in 869, contains the following solemn profes- 
sion of faith : " Salvation primarily depends upon 
guarding the rule of right faith. And since we 
cannot pass over the words of our Lord Jesus 
Clirist, who says, ' Thou art Peter, and on this rock 
1 will build ]\Iy Church,' what was said is confirmed 
by facts, because in the Apostolic See tlie Catholic 
religion has always been preserved im maculate, and 
holy doijtrine has been proclaimed. Not wishing, 



INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. 149 

then, to be separated from this iaith aud doctriD'*., 
we hope to merit to be in the one communion which 
the Apostolic See preaches, in which See is the full 
and true solidity of the Christian religion." 

This Council clearly declares that immamdate doo 
\rine has always bee7i preserved and preached in iht 
Roman See. But how could this be said of her, if 
the Roman See ever fell into error ? and how could 
that See be preserved from error, if the Roman Pon- 
tiffs presiding over it ever erred in faith ? 

In the Second General Council of Lyons, (1274,) 
the Greek Bishops made the following profession 
of faith : " The holy Roman Church possesses full 
primacy and priucipality over the universal Cath- 
olic Church, which primacy, with the plenitude of 
power, she truly and humbly acknowledges to have 
received from our Lord Himself, in the person of 
Blessed Peter, Prince or Head of the Apostles, 
whose successor the Roman Pontiff is ; and as the 
Roman See, above all others, is bound to defend 
the truth of faith, so, also, if any questions on Jaitri 
arise, they ought to be defined by her judgment,'^ 

Here the Council of Lyons avows that the Roman 
Pontiffs have the power to determine definitely, and 
without appeal, any questions of faith which may 
arise in the Church; in other words, the Council 
acknowledges them to be the supreme and infallible 
ai biters of faith. 

" We define," says the Council of Florence, (1439,, 
at which also were present the Bishops of the Greek 
13* 



160 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

and the Latin Church, " we define that the Roiiian 
Pontiff is the successor of the Blessed Peter, Prince 
of the Apostles, and the true Vicar of Christ, the Jiead 
of the whole Church, the Father and Doctor < i all 
Cliristians; and we declare that to him, in the pcsi-^on 
of Blessed Peter, was given, by Jesus Christ )ur 
Saviour, full power to feed, rule, and goveri che 
universal Church.'' 

The Pope is here called the true Vicar or repre- 
sentative of Christ in this lower kingdom of His 
Church militant, that is, the Pope is the organ of 
our Saviour, and speaks His sentiments in faith and 
morals. But if the Pope erred in faith and morals, 
he would no longer be Christ's Vicar and true repre- 
sentative. Our minister in England, for instance, 
would not truly represent our Government, if he was 
not the organ of its sentiments. The Roman Pontiff 
is called the Head of the whole Church, that is, the 
visible Head. Now the Church, which is the body of 
Christ, is infallible. It is, as St. Paul says, " without 
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing." But how can 
you suppose an infallible body with a fallible head ? 
How can an erring head conduct a body in the un- 
erring ways of truth and justice? 

He is declared by ihe same Council to be the 
Father and Doctor of all Christians. How can you 
expect an' unerring family under an erring Father? 
The Pope is called the universal teacher or doctor. 
Teacher of what ? Of truth, not of error. Error is 
to the mind what poison is to the body. You do not 



INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES. If 1 

call poison, food ; neither can you call error, doc- 
trine. The Pope, as universal teacher, must always 
give to the faithful, not the poisonous f)od of error, 
but the sound aliment of pure doctrine. 

In fine, the Pope is also styled the Chief PRot of 
the Church. It was not without a mysterious signifi- 
cance, that our Lord went into Peter's bark instead 
of that of any of the other Apostles. This bark, oai 
Lord has pledged Himself, shall never sink, jjo»' 
depart from her true course. How can you iraa| in^ 
a storm-proof, never-varying bark under the charge 
of a fallible Pilot? 

The Council of the Vatican in promulgating, in 
1870, the Pope's Infallibility, did not create a new 
doctrine, but confirmed an old one. In proclaim- 
ing this dogma, the Church enforces as a law a princi- 
ple which has always existed as a matter of fact. 

I may illustrate this point by referring again to 
our Supreme Court. When the Chief Justice decider 
a constitutional question, his decision, though pre- 
sented in a new shape, cannot be called a new doc- 
trine, because it is based on the letter and spirit of 
the Constitution. 

In like manner, when the Church issues a new 
dogma of faith, that decree is nothing more than a 
new form of expressing an old doctrine, because the 
decision must be drawn from the revealed Word of 
God. 

The course pursued by the Church regarding the 
luiallibility of the Pope, was practised by her iu 



152 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

reference to the divinity of Jesus Christ. Our 
Saviour was acknowledged to be God from the 
beginning of the Church. Yet His divinity was not 
formally defined till the Council of Nic^ea in the 
fourth century ; and it would not have been defined 
even then, if it had not been denied by Arius. And 
who will have the presumption to say that the 
belief in the divinity of our Lord had its origin in 
the fourth century ? 

The following has always been the practice pre- 
vailing^ in the Church of God from the beo-iunino- of 
her history. Whenever Bishops or National Coun- 
cils promulgated doctrines or condemned errors, 
they always transmitted their decrees to Rome for 
confirmation or rejection. What Rome approved, 
the universal Church approved ; what Rome con- 
demned, the Church condemned. 

Thus, in the third century. Pope St. Stephen 
reverses the decision of St. Cyprian of Carthage, and 
of a Council of African Bishops, regarding a question 
of baptism. 

Pope St. Innocent I., in the fifth century, con- 
demns the Pelagian heresy, in reference to which Sl 
Augustine wrote this memorable sentence: "The 
acts of two Councils were sent to the ApostoJic 
See, whence an answer was returned; the question u 
ended. Would to God that the error had also 
ceased." 

In the fourteenth century, Gregory XL condeu.i\fl 
the heresy of Wicklifife. 



INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPES, 163 

Pope Leo X., in the sixteenth, anathematizes 
Luther. 

Innocent X., in the seventeenth, at the solicitation 
of the French Episcopate, condemns the subtle errors 
of the Jansenists ; and in the nineteenth century. 
Pius IX. promulgates the doctrine of the Immacu- 
late Conception. 

Here we find the Popes in various ages condemn- 
ing heresies and proclaiming doctrines of faith ; and 
they could not in a stronger manner assert their 
infallibility than by defining doctrines of faith and 
condemning errors. We also behold the Church of 
Christendom ever saying Amen to the decisions of 
the Bishops of Rome. Hence, it is evident that in 
every age the Church recognized the Popes as infal- 
lible teachers. 

Every independent government must have a su- 
preme tribunal, regularly sitting to interpret it^ 
laws, and to decide cases of controversy likely to 
arise. Thus we have in Washington the Suprem^t? 
Court of the United States. 

Now the Catholic Church is a complete and inde- 
pendent organization, as complete in its spiritual 
sphere as the United States Government is in the 
temporal order. The Church has its own laws, it^ 
own autonomy, and government. 

The Church, therefore, like civil powers, must 
have a permanent and stationary supreme tribunal 
to interpret its laws, and to determine cases of re- 
ligious controversy. 



154 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

What constitutes this perm-aneDt supreme court 
of the Church ? Does it consist of the Bishops as- 
sembled in General Council ? No ; because this is 
not an ordinary but an extraordinary tribunal, 
which meets, on an average, only once in a hun- 
dred years. 

Is it composed of the Bishops scattered throughout 
the world ? By no means ; because it would be im- 
practicable to consult all the Bishops of Christendom 
upon every issue that might arise in the Church. 
The poison of error would easily spread through the 
body of the Church before a decision could be ren- 
dered by the Prelates dispersed throughout the globe. 
The Pope, then, as Head of the Catholic Church, con- 
stitutes, with just reason, this supreme tribunal. 

And as the office of the Church is to guide meu 
into all truth, and to preserve them from all error, 
it foUow^s that he who is appointed to watch over 
the constitution of the Church must be infallible, or 
exempt from error in his official capacity as judge of 
faith and morals. The prerogatives of the Pope must 
be commensurate with the nature of the constitution 
wdiich he has to uphold. The constitution is divine, 
and must have a divinely-protected interpreter. 

But you will tell me that infallibility is too great 
a prerogative to be conferred on man. I answer : 
has not God, in former times, clothed his Apostles 
with powders far more exalted ? They w^ere endowed 
with the gift of inspiration ; they were the mouth- 
piece communicating God's revelation, of which the 



INFAIXIBILITY OF THE POPES. 155 

Popes are merely the custodians. If God could 
make man the organ of His revealed Word, is it 
impossible for Him to make man its infallible guar- 
dian and interpreter? For, surely, greater is the 
Apostle who gives us the insplLred Word than the 
Pope who preserves it from error. 

If, indeed, our Saviour had visibly remained among 
us, no interpreter would be needed, since He would 
explain His Gospel to us ; but as he withdrew His 
visible presence from us, it was eminently reasonable 
that He should designate some one to expound for 
us the meaning of His Word. 

A Protestant Bishop, in the course of a sermon 
against Papal Infallibility, recently used the follow- 
ing language : '^ For my part, I have an infallible 
Bible, and this is the only infallibility that I re- 
quire." This assertion, though plausible at first 
sight, cannot for a moment stand the test of sound 
criticism. 

Let us see, sir, whether an infallible Bible is suf- 
ficient for you. Either you are infallibly certain 
that your interpretation of the Bible is correct, or 
you are not. 

If you are infallibly certain, then you assert for 
yourself, and of course for every reader of the Scrip- 
ture, a personal infallibility which you deny to the 
Pope, and which we claim only for him. You make 
every man his own Pope. 

If you are not infallibly certain that you under- 
stand the true meaning of the whole Bibie, — and 



156 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

this is a privilege you do not claim, — then, 1 ask, 
of what use to you is the objective Infallibility of 
the Bible, without an infallible interpreter? 

If God, as you assert, has left no infallible inter 
preter of His Word, do you not virtually accuse Him 
of acting unreasonably? for would it not be most 
unreasonable in Him to have revealed His truth 
to man withoui leaving him a means of ascertaining 
its precise import ? 

Do you not reduce God's word to a bundle of con- 
tradictions, like the leaves of the Sybil, which gave 
forth answers suited to the wishes of every inquirer ? 

Of the hundred and more Christian sects now 
existing in this country, does not each take the 
Bible as its standard of authority, and does not 
each member draw from it a meaning different from 
that of his neighbor? While in the mind of God 
the Scriptures can have but one meaning. And is 
Qot this variety of interpretations the bitter fruit of 
your principle : " An infallible Bible is enough for 
me?'' and does it not proclaim the absolute necessity 
of some authorized and unerring interpreter ? You 
tell me to drink of the water of life ; but of what use 
is this water to my parched lips, since you acknowl- 
edge that it may be poisoned in passing through the 
medium of your interpretation? 

How satisfactory, on the contrary, and how rea- 
sonable, is the Catholic teaching on this subject ? 

According to her system, Christ says to every 
Christian : Here, my child, is the Word of God : rd J 



TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. lf>7 

with it I leave you an infallible iDter|)reter, who 
will (^xpouDcl for YOU its hidden meaning, and will 
make clear all its difficulties. 

Here are the waters of eternal life, but I have 
created a channel that will communicate these 
waters to you in all their sweetness, without any 
sediment of error. 

Here is the written Constitution of My Church. 
But I have appointed over it a supreme Tribunal, 
in the person of one '^ to whom I have given the 
keys of the kingdom of heaven," who will preserve 
that Constitution inviolate, and will not permit it to 
be torn into shreds by the conflicting opinions of 
men. And thus my children will be one, as I and 
the Father are one. 



CHAPTER XII. 

TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES — HOW THSl? 
ACQUIRED TEMPORAL POWER — VALIDITY AND 
JUSTICE OF THEIR TITLE — WHAT THE FOPIS 
H^VE DONE FOR ROME. 

I. 

HOW THE POPES ACQUIRED TEMPORAL POWER. 

FOR the clearer understanding of the origin and 
gradual growth of the Temporal Power of the 
Popes, we may divide the history of the Church 
into three great epochs. 
14 



158 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

The iirst embraces the period which elapsed from 
the establishment of the Church to the days of Con- 
stantine the Great, in the fourth century ; the second, 
from Constantino to Charlemagne, who was crowned 
emperor in the year 800; the third, from Chatle- 
magne to the present time. 

When St. Peter, the first Pope in the long, un- 
broken line of Sovereign Pontiffs, entered Italy and 
Rome, he did not possess a foot of ground which he 
could call his own. He could say with his divine 
Master : " The foxes have holes and the birds of the 
air nests ; but the Son of man hath not whereon to 
lay His head."^ The Apostle died as he had lived, 
a poor man, having nothing at his death save the 
affections of a grateful people. 

But although the Prince of the Apostles owned 
nothing that he could call his personal property, he 
received from the faithful large donations to be dis- 
tributed among the needy. For, in the Acts of the 
Apostles, we are told that " neither was any one among 
them (the faithful) needy ; for as many as were 
owners of lands or houses, sold them, and brought 
the prices of the things which they sold and laid 
them before the feet of the Apostles, and distribu- 
tion was made to every one according as he had 
Deed." '^ Such was the filial attachment of the early 
Christians towards the Pontiffs of the Church ; such 
was the confidence reposed in their personal integ- 

1 Matt. viii. 20. » Acts iv. 84, 36. 



TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 159 

ity, and in their discretion in dispensing the charity 
.f the faithfLil. 

During the first three hundred years, the Pastors 
f the Church were generally incapable of holding 
eal estate in Eonie ; for, Christianity ^Yas yet a pro- 
cribed religion, and the faithful were exposed to 
he most violent and unrelenting persecutions that 
lave ever darkened the annals of history. 

The Christians of Rome worshipped for the most 
part in the catacombs. These catacombs are sub- 
:erranean chambers and passages under the city of 
Rome. They extend for miles in different directions, 
md are visited to this day by thousands of strangers. 
Here the primitive Christians prayed together ; here 
they encouraged one another to martyrdom ; here 
they died and were buried. So that these caverns 
served at the same time as temples of worship for 
the living, and as tombs for the dead. 

At last, Constantine the Great brought peace to 
the Church. The long night of Pagan persecution 
was succeeded by the bright dawn of religious 
liberty ; and as our Blessed Saviour rose triumpli- 
ant from the grave, after having lain there for three 
days, so did our early brethren in the faith emerge 
from the tombs of the catacombs, after having been 
buried, as it were, in the bowels of the earth for 
three centuries. 

Constantine gave to the Roman Church munifi- 
cent donations of money and real estate, which were 
augmented by additional grants contributed by 



160 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

subsequent Emperors. Hence the patrimony cf 
the Roman Pontiffs soon became very considerable. 
And Voltaire himself tells us that the wealth which 
the Popes acquired was spent not in satisfying their 
own avarice and ambition, but in the most laudable 
works of charity and religion. They expended their 
patrimony, he says, in sending Missionaries to evan- 
gelize Pagan Europe, in giving hospitality to exiled 
Bishops at Rome, and in feeding the poor. And I 
may here add that succeeding Popes have gener- 
ously imitated the munificence of the early Pontiffs. 

An event occurred in the reign of Constantine 
which paved the way for the partial jurisdiction 
which the Roman Pontiffs commenced to enjoy over 
Rome, and which they continued to exercise, till 
they obtained full sovereignty in the days of Kjng 
Pepin of France. 

In the year 327, the Emperor Constantine trans- 
ferred the seat of empire from Rome to Constanti- 
Qople, the present capital of Turkey. The city was 
named after Constantine, who founded it. A subse- 
quent Emperor appointed a Governor or Exarch to 
rule Italy, who resided in the city of Ravenna. This 
new system, as is manifest, did not work well. The 
Enjperor of Constantinople referred all matters to 
his deputy in Ravenna, and the deputy was more 
anxious to conciliate the Emperor than to satisfy 
the people of Rome. Italy and Rome were then 
in a political condition analogous to that in whicp 
llie Irish have been placed for several centuries 



TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 161 

past. Ireland is under the immediate jurisdiction 
of a Lieutenant-Governor, who is responsible only 
to the home government, and who is never accused, 
among his other weaknesses, of having an excessive 
fondness for Ireland. 

Abandoned to itself, Rome became a tempting prey 
to th( se numerous hordes of barbarians from the 
North that then devastated Italy. The city was suc- 
cessively attacked by the Goths under Alaric, and by 
the Vandals under Genseric, and was threatened by 
the Huns under Attila. Unable to obtain assistance 
from the Emperor in the East, or the Governor at 
Ravenna, the citizens of Rome looked up to the Popes 
as their only Governors and protectors, and their 
only salvation in the dangers which threatened them. 
The confidence which they reposed in the Pontiffs 
was not misplaced. The Popes were not only de- 
voted spiritual Fathers, but firm and valiant civil 
Governors. When Attila, who was surnamed " the 
Scourge of God,'' approached the city with an army 
of 500,000 men. Pope Leo the Great went out to 
meet him without any troops at his back, but by his 
mild eloquence he disarmed the indomitable chief- 
tain, and induced him to retrace his steps. Thus 
he saved the city from pillage and the people from 
destruction. The same Pope Leo also confronted 
Genseric, the leader of the Vandals ; and although 
he could not this time protect Rome from the plun- 
der of the soldiers, he saved the lives of tlie citizens 
from slaughter. Such acts as these were naturally 
14* L 



162 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

calculated to bind the Roman people more strongh 
to the Popes, and to alienate them from those who 
were their nominal rulers. 

In the early part of the eighth century, Leo 
Isauricus, one of the successors of Constantine in the 
imperial throne, not content with his civil authority, 
endeavored, like Henry VIII., to usurp spiritual 
jurisdiction, tnd, like the same English monarch, 
sought to rob the people of their time-honored sacred 
traditions. A civil ruler dabbling in religion is as 
reprehensible as a clergyman dabbling in politics. 
Both render themselves odious as well as ridiculous. 
The Emperor commanded all paintings of our 
Saviour and His saints to be removed from the 
churches on the assumption that such an exhibition 
was an act of idolatry. Pope Gregory II. wrote to 
the Emperor an energetic remonstrance, reminding 
him that "dogmas of faith are to be interpreted by 
the Pontiffs of the Church and not by emperors," 
and begging him to spare the sacred paintings. But 
the Pope^s remonstrance and entreaties were in vain. 
This conduct of the Emperor tended to widen still 
more the breach between himself and the Roman 
people. 

Soon after, an event occurred which abolished 
forever the authority of the Byzantine Emperors in 
Italy, and established on a sure and lasting basis the 
temporal sovereignty of the Popes. 

In 754, Astolphus, King of the Lombards, invaded 
Italy, capturing some Italian cities, and threatening 
to advance on Rome. 



TEMPORAL POWER OF THE P0PE8. 163 

Pope Stephen III./ who then ruled the Church, 
sent an urgent appeal to the Emperor Constantiue 
Copronymus, successor of Leo the Isaurian, implor- 
ing him to come to the relief of Rome and his Ital- 
ian provinces. The Emperor manifested his usual 
apathy and indifference, and received the message 
with coldness and neglect. 

In this emergency, Stephen, who sees that no time 
is to be lost, crosses the Alps in person, approaches 
Pepin, King of France, and begs that powerful 
monarch to protect the Italian people, who were 
utterly abandoned by those that ought to be theii 
defenders. The pious King, after paying his homage 
to the Pope, sets out for Italy with his army, defeats 
the invading Lombards, and places the Pope at the 
head of the conquered provinces. 

Charlemagne, the successor of Pepin, not only 
confirms the grant of his father, but increases the 
temporal domain of the Pope by donating him some 
additional provinces. 

This small piece of territory the Roman Pontiffs 
continued to govern from that time till 1870, with 
the exception of brief intervals of foreign usurpation. 
And certainly, if ever any Prince merited the appel- 
lation of legitimate sovereign, that title is eminently 
deserved by the Bishops of Rome. 

^ Sometimes called Stephen II., as Stephen, his predecepgor, 
died three days after his election, whose name is omittfe^i lo 
some calendars. 



164 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

II. 

THE VALIDITY AXD JUSTICE OF THEIR TITLE. 

There are three titles which render the tenure 
of a Prince honest and incontestable, viz., long pos- 
session, legitimate acquisition, and a just use of the 
original grant confided to him. The Bishop of Rome 
possessed his temporality by all these titles. 

1. The temporal dominion of the Pope is most 
ancient in point of time. He commenced, as we 
have seen, to enjoy full sovereignty about the mid- 
dle of the eighth century. The Pope was, conse- 
quently, a temporal ruler for upwards of 1,100 
years. The Papal dynasty is therefore the oldest 
in Europe, and probably in the world. The Poj>e 
was the temporal ruler of Rome four hundred years 
before England subjugated Ireland, and seven hun- 
dred years before the first European pressed his foot 
on the American continent. 

2. His civil authority was established not by the 
sword of conquest nor the violence of usurpation. 
He did not mount the throne upon the ruins of out- 
raged liberties or violated treaties; but he was called 
to rule by the unanimous voice of a grateful people. 
Always the devoted spiritual Father ot' Rome, he 
providentially became its civil defender ; and the 
temporal power he had possessed already by pop- 
ular suffrage, was ratified and sanctioned by the 
sovereign act of the French monarch. In a word, 
die ship of state was threatened with being engulfed 



TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 165 

1 eneath the fierce waves of foreign invasion. The 
Captain, meantime, folded his arms, and abandoned 
the ship to her fate ; and in the emergency the Pope 
was called to the helm, and saved the vessel from 
•hipwreck and the people from destruction. Hence, 
even the infidel Gibbon ^Yas forced to use the follow- 
ing language in discussing this subject: "Their (the 
Popes') temporal dominion is now confirmed by the 
reverence of a thousand years, and their noblest title 
is the free choice of a people whom they had re- 
deemed from slavery." 

3. What is the use or advantage of tlie tem- 
poral power? This is well worth considering, as 
many persons have erroneous notions on this sub- 
ject. 

The object is not to aggrandize or enrich the Pope. 
He ascends the Papal chair generally an old man, 
vviien human passion and human ambition, if any 
did exist, are on the wane. His personal expenses 
do not exceed a few dollars a day. He eats alone 
and very abstemiously. He has no wife or children 
to enrich w^ith the spoils of office, as he is an unrr*ar- 
ried man. The Popedom is not hereditary, like the 
sovereignty of England, but elective, like the office 
of our President, and he is succeeded by a PontifiT 
to whom he is bound by no family ties. What per- 
sonal motive, therefore, can he have in desiring tem- 
poral sovereignty? I am sure, indeed, that if the 
Huly Father were to consult his own taste and feel- 
ings, he would much rather be free from the tram 



166 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

mels of civil government. But he has highei 
interests to subserve. He must vindicate the eter- 
ual laws of justice, which have been violated in 
his own person. 

As the Popes were not actuated by a love of gain 
in possessing temporal dominion, neither had they 
any desire to enlarge their territory, small as it had 
been. The Temporalities of the Pope were not much 
larger than the State of Maryland, before he was 
deprived of them by Victor Emmanuel a few years 
ago. 

And this is the little slice of land which Victor 
Emmanuel wrested from the Holy Father. This is 
the vineyard which the modern King Achab wrung 
from the unoffending Naboth. But the Pontiff an- 
swers, like Naboth of old : *' The Lord be merciful 
to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance of 
my fathers.^' ^ 

This is the little ewe-lamb which the modern 
David has snatched from its legitimate owner, 
Uriah. The royal shepherd of Piedmont had al- 
ready seized all the other lambs and sheep of his 
neighbors ; but he was not satisfied till he added 
to his fold the solitary, tender lamb of the Pope. 
Let him take care, however, that the prophecy 
denounced by Nathan against David fall not upon 
lunisdf and his posterity: "Why, therefore, hast 
thou despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in 



^ III. Kings xii. 3. 



TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 167 

My sight? Therefore the sword shall never depart 
from thy house, because thou hast despised Me. 
Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of 
thy own house." ^ 

While the patrimony of the Pope was large 
enough to secure his independence, it was too 
small to provoke the fear and jealousy of foreign 
powers. The authority of the Roman Poutiifs in 
the Middle Ages was almost unbounded. Had they 
wished then, they could easily have increased their 
territory ; yet they were content with what Provi- 
dence placed originally in their hands.'* 

The sole end of the temporal power has been to 
secure for the Pope independence end freedom in 
the government of the Church. The Holy Father 
must be either a Sovereign or a subject. There i« 
no medium. If a subject, he might become either 
the pliant creature if God would so permit, of his 

* II. Kings xM. 

'^ I dare say yon conld have found, a few years since, some 
persons in the United States who entertained a holy fear lest 
the Pope should one morning land upon our shores, and take 
forcible possession of our country. A venerable clergyman 
once informed me that when he went to pay his respects to 
President Pierce, who then occupied the White House, his 
Excellency remarked to him : " 1 had a visit from a nervous 
gentleman, who asked me whether I was making any prepa- 
rations to resist the approach of the Pope. I replied that so 
far I had taken no steps, but that no doubt I would be pre- 
pared to meet the enemy when he arrived. The man retired 
more composed, but not fully satisfied." 



168 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

royal master, like the schisraatic Patriarch of Cx>d- 
stantinople, who, as Gibbou observed, was " a do- 
mestic slave under the eye of his master, at whose 
nod he passed from the convent to the throne, and 
from the throne to the convent." And indeed the 
Oriental Schisraatic Bishops are as subservient now 
as they were then to their temporal rulers. Or, 
what is far more probable, the Pope might become 
a virtual prisoner in his own house, as the present 
illustrious Pontiff is at this moment. 

The Pope is the Representative of Christ on 
earth. His office requires him to be in constant 
ccDimunication with Prelates in every country in 
the world. Should the kingdom of Italy be em- 
broiled in a war with any European Power, with 
Germ. any, for instance, it would be difficult, if not 
impossible, for the Holy Father and the German 
Bishops to confer with each other, and religion 
would suffer from the interruption of intercourse 
between the Head and the members. 

The interests of Christianity demand that the 
Vicar of the Prince of peace should possess one spot 
of territory which would be held inviolable, so that 
?J1 nations and peoples could at all times, in war 
PS well as in peace, freely correspond with him. 
While nothing can be more revolting to our feelings 
than that the spiritual government of the Church 
should be constantly hampered by the hostile aggres- 
t?ioDs of ambitious -rulers, an eventuality always 



TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 169 

iikely to occur so long as the Pope remains the sub- 
ject of any earthly potentate/ 

But we are told that the Roman people, by a 
plebiscihim, or popular vote, expressed their desire 
lo be annexed to the Piedmontese Government. To 
this I answer, in the first place, that we ought to 
know what importance to attach to elections held 
under the shadow of the bayonet. And it i^ 
well known that the Roman plebiscitum was under- 
taken by the authority, and guided by the inspira- 
tion, of the Italian troops. It is equally notori- 
ous that the numerous stragglers who accom- 
panied the Italian army to Rome, legalized the 
gigantic fraud of their master, as well as their 
own petty thefts, by voting in favor of anneza- 
tion. 

^ Some of the evils that were predicted to follow from the 
occupation of Rome by a foreign power have been too 
speedily realized. Already several convents and other 
ecclesiastical institutions have been seized and sold, and 
their inmates sent adrift. A number of coliej2:es founded 
and endowed by the piety of foreign Catholics have been 
confiscated. Public religious processions througji the streets 
of Rome have been proliibited ; and these and other out- 
rages are perpetrated by a government which solemnly 
pledged itself to maintain inviolate the sovereign rights of 
the Holy Father when it took forcible possession of his city 
in 1870. From the ev$<nts that have already transpired, we 
will not be surprised to see the Pope still more seriousiT 
hampered by a monarch who has unscrupulously vioiawxi 
his former guarantees. 
W 



170 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

In the second place, the Roman people, even bad 
they so desired, had no right to transfer, by their 
suffrage, the Patrimony of St. Peter to Victor Em- 
nianuel. They could not give what did not belonL' 
to them. The Papal territory was granted to the 
Popes in trust, for the use and benefit of tlie Church, 
that is, for the use and benefit of the Catholics of 
Christendom. And therefore the Catholic world, 
and not merely a handful of Roman subjects, must 
give its consent before such a transfer can be de- 
clared legitimate. Rome is to Catholic Christendom 
Vv'hat Washington is to the United States. As the 
citizens of Washington have no power, without tlie 
concurrence of the United States, to annex their 
city to Maryland or Virginia, neither can the citizens 
of Rome liand over their city to the Kingdom of 
Piedmont without the acquiescence of the faithful 
dispersed throughout the world. 

Therefore vre protest against the occupation of 
Rome by foreign troops as a high-handed act of in- 
justice, and a gross violation of the Comm.andment 
which says : " Thou shalt not steal." 

We protest against it as a royal outrage, calculated 
10 shock the public sense of honesty, and to weaken 
the sacred right of public and private property. 

We protest against it as an unjustifiable violatidu 
of solemn treaties. 

We protest, in fine, against the sj)oliation as an 
impious sacrilege, because it is an unholy seizure 
of ecclesiastical property, and an atteiupt, a^ 'kr a.- 



TEMPORAL POWER OF THE POPES. 171 

human agencies can accomplish it, to trammel an^j 
embarrass the free action of the Head of the Church 

III. 

WHAT THE POPES HAVE DONE FOR ROME. 

Although the temporal power of the Pope is a 
subject which concerns the universal Church, there 
is no people who have more reason to lament the 
loss of the Holy Father^s Temporalities than the 
Italians themselves, and particularly the inhabitants 
of Rome. 

It is the residence of the Popes in Rome that 
has contributed to her material and religious gran- 
deur. The Pontiils have made her the Centre of 
Christendom, the Queen of religion, the Mistress 
of arts and sciences, the Depository of sacred learn- 
ing. 

By their creative and conservative spirit, they 
have saved the illustrious monuments of the past : 
and side by side with these they have raised up 
Christian temples which surpass those of Pagan an- 
tiquity. In looking, to-day, at these old Roman 
monuments, we know not which to admire more, the 
genius of those who designed and erected them, or 
the fostering care of the Popes who have preserved 
from destruction the venerable ruins. The residence 
of the Popes in Rome has made her what she is truly 
ca lied, the Eternal city. 

Let the Popes leave Rome forever, and in five 



172 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

years grass will be growing ou its streets. And 
such, iu fact, was the case in the beo^iDnintr of itDt 
present century, when Pius VII. was an exile fci 
four years from Rome, and a prisoner of the first 
Napoleon, in Fonrainebleau. Grass then grew ol 
the streets of Rome, and the city lost one-half of its 
population. As is natural to suppose, when the 
Pope returned, he was received by the Romans with 
enthusiastic demonstrations of joy. And so will tlie 
present Pope be welcomed back by the same people. 
should he be obliged by circumstances to leave the 
city. 

Rome has naturally no commercial atiraetions. 
It is only the presence of the Pope that keeps up 
her trade. Let the Popes abandon Rome, and her 
churches will soon be without worshippers ; her 
artists without employment. Her glorious monu- 
ments will perish. Science and art and sacred 
literature will take their flight and perch upon some 
more favored spot. The hundred thousand strangers 
that annually flock to Rome from different parrs of 
the world, will shake otf the dust from their feet 
^nd seek more congenial cities. 

Let tlie Popes withdraw from Rome, and it may 
become almost as desolate as Jerusalem and Autioch 
ire to-day. 

Peter preached his flrst sermons in Jerusalem, bui 
he did not select it as his See ; and Jerusalem is to- 
day a Mahometan city, with its sacred places pro* 
^jined by the foot of the Mussulman. 



TEMPO PwAL POWER OF THE POPES 17-^ 

Peter occupied for a time the city of Antioch as 
his first See. But in the mysterious providence 
of God, he abandoned Antioch and repaired to 
Rome. And now Antioch is a deserted village 
with scarcely a stone left upon a stone, or a single 
monument standing to commemorate her former 
greatness. 

Had the Popes remained in Antioch, the conti- 
nent of Asia, the greater part of which lies buried 
in idolatry, would now very probably be, instead of 
Europe, the centre of Christianity and civilization ; 
the immortal Dome of St. Peter's would doubtless 
overshadow the banks of the Orontes instead of 
the Tiber ; and Antioch, instead of Rome, would 
be the focus of the arts and sciences and of sacred 
literature, and would be called to-day the Eternal 
city. 

Our present beloved Pontiff Pius IX., I need 
uot inform you, is now treated with indignity in 
his ONvn city. In his declining years, as well as 
in the early days of his Pontificate, he is made to 
drink deep of the chalice of affliction. His name 
is dear to us all. To many of us it is a name 
familiar from our youth ; for, thirty-one years have 
now elapsed since he first assumed the reins of gov- 
ernment ; and it is a noteworthy fact that, since the 
days of Peter, no Pope has ever reigned so long as 
Pius IX. 

The Pope in every age, like his divine Master, 
has his period of persecution and his period of peai«. 
15* 



174 THE FAITH F OUK FATHERS. 

Like Him, he has his days of sorrovr and his dap 
of joy ; his days of humiliation and death, and his 
days of exaltation and glory. Like Jesus Christ, he 
is one day greeted with acclamations as king, and 
another day crucified by his enemies. 

But never does the Holy Father exhibit his title 
as Vicar of Christ more strikingly than in the midst 
of tribulations ; for if he did not suffer, he would 
bear no resemblance to his divine Model and 
Master; and never does he more worthily deserve 
the filial homage of his children than when he is 
heavily laden with the cross. 

I envy neither the heart nor the head of those 
men w^ho are now gloating, with fiendish joy, over 
the calamities of the Pope; who are heaping insults 
and calumnies on his venerable head, while he is 
in the hands of his enemies,^ and who are confidently 

^Soine time ago, my artendon was called to a ceriain e^- 
eummunication or '' curse," then widely circulated hy die 
press of North Carolina. The ''curse" is attributed to the 
Holy Father, and is fulminated agamst Victor Emmanuel. 
[n this anathema, cursing and damning are heai>ed up in wild 
confusion. When this base forgery appeared, an article ex- 
posing the falsehood of the production was published. We 
fear, however, that many read the slanderous charge who 
did not read its refutation. 

As to this "curse" against Victor Emmanuel so calumni- 
oasly attributed to the Pope, I state here distinctly and posi- 
tively that its author is not Pius IX., nor any other RomaL 
Pontifi", nor any Catholic Priest or lajman. It is to the 
P#cv. Laurence Sterne, Minister of the Established Churcb 



TEMPOKAL POWER OF THE POPES. 175 

predicting the downfall of the Papacy, from the 
present situation of the Head of the Church, as if 
the temporary privation of his doininions involved 
their loss irrevocably ; or, as if even the perpetual 
destruction of the temporal power involved the 
destruction of the spiritual supremacy itself. " Th€ 
Papacy," they say, " is gone. Its glory is vanished. 
Its sun is set. It is sunk below the horizon, uevei 
to rise again." Ill-boding prophets, will you nevei 
profit by the lessons of history ? Have not uumberi 
of Popes before Pius IX. been forcibly ejected from 
their Sees, and have they not been reinstated in 
their temporal authority? What has happened so 
often before, may and will happen again. 

For our part, we have every confidence that ere- 
long the clouds which now overshadow the civil throiae 
of the Pope will be removed by the breath of a right- 
eous God, and that his temporal power will be re- 
established on a more permanent basis than ever. 

But whatever be the fate of the Pope's Temporal- 
ities, we have no fears for the spiritual throne of the 
Papacy. The Pontiffs have received their earth- 
ly dominion from man, and what man gives map 
may take away. But the spiritual supremacy th*^ 
Bishops of Rome have from God, and no man can 
destroy it. That divine charter of their preroga- 



of England, and to his romance of " Tristram Shandy," thai 
the English-speaking world is indebted for this infamom 
compilation. 



176 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

tives, " Thou art Peter, and ou this rock I will build 
my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
a2:ainst it,'' ^ will ever shine forth as brightly as the 
sun, and it is as far as the sun above the reach of 
human aggression. 

The Holy Father may live and die in the cata- 
combs, as the early Pontiffs did for the first three 
centuries. He may be dragged from his See and 
perish in exile, like the Martins, the Gregories, and 
the Piuses. He may wander a penniless pilgrim, 
like Peter himself. Rome itself may sink beneath 
the Mediterranean ; still, the chair of Peter will 
stand, and Peter will live in his successors. 



CHAPTER Xni. 

THE INVOCATION OF SAINTS. 

CHRISTIANS of most denominations are accus* 
tomed to recite the following article contained 
in the Apostles' Creed : '^ I believe in the communion 
of saints." There are many, I fear, however, who 
have these words frequently on their lips, without 
the slightest knowledge of the precious meaning 
which they convey. 

The true and obvious sense of the words quoted 
from the Creed is, that between the children of God, 

^ Matt. xvi. 18. 



INVOCATION OP SAINTS. 177 

whether reigning in heaven or sojourning on earth, 
there exists an intercommunion or spiritual com- 
naunication by prayer ; and, consequently, that our 
friends who have entered into their rest are mindful 
of us in their petitions to God. 

In the exposition of her Creed, the Cathoiu. 
Church weighs her words in the scales of the sanc- 
tuary with as much precision as a banker weighs 
gold. With regard to the Invocation of Saints, the 
Church simply declares that it is " useful and salu- 
tary " to ask their prayers. There are expressions 
addressed to the saints, in some popular books of 
devotion, which, to critical readers, may seem ex- 
travagant. But they are only the warm language 
of affection and poetry, and are to be regulated by 
our standard of faith ; and notice that all the prayer? 
of the Church end with the formula : "Through our 
Lord Jesus Christ," sufficiently indicating her belief 
that Christ is the Mediator of salvation. A heart 
tenderly attached to the saints will give vent to its 
feelings in the language of hyperbole, just as an en- 
thusiastic lover w^ill call his future bride his ador- 
able queen, without any intention of worshipping 
her as a goddess. This reflection should be borne 
in mind while reading such passages. 

I might easily show, by voluminous quotations 
from ecclesiastical writers of the first ages of the 
Church, how conformable to the teaching of an- 
tiquity is the Catholic practice of invoking the inter- 
cession of the saints. But as you, dear reader, mav 

M 



(78 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

DOt be disposed to attach adequate iniporlance to 
the writiDgs of the Fathers, I shall confiDe myself 
to the testinioDy of Holy Scripture. 

You will readily admit that it is a salutary 
custom to ask tlie prayers of the blessed in heaven, 
provided you have no doubt that they can hear 
your prayers, and that they have the power and 
the icill to assist you. Now the Scriptures amply 
demonstrate the knowledge, the influence, and the 
love of the saints in our regard. 

1. It would be a great mistake to suppose that the 
angels and saints reigning with God see and hear 
in the same manner that we see and hear on earth ; 
or that knowledge is communicated to them as it is 
communicated to us. While we are confined in the 
prison of the body, we see only with our eyes and 
hear with our ears; and hence our fiiculties of vision 
and hearing are very limited. Compared with the 
heavenly inhabitants, we are like a man in a dark- 
some cell through which a dim ray of light pene- 
trates. He observes but a few objects, and these 
very obscurely. But as soon as our soul is freed 
from the body, soaring heavenward like a bird re- 
leased from its cage, its vision is at once marvel- 
ously enlarged. It requires neither eyes to see nor 
ears to hear, but beholds all things in God as in a 
mirror. "We now," says the Apostle, "see through 
a glass darkly ; but then face to face. Now, I kiiow 
in part: but then I shall know even as I am known.''- 

1 I. Cor. xiii. 12. 



IXVOCATIOX OF SAINTS. 179 

That the spirits of the just in heaven are clearly 
conversant with our affairs on earth, is also manifest 
from the following passages of Holy Writ. The 
venerable Patriarch Jacob, when on his death-bed, 
prayed thus for his two grandchildren • " Mat the 
angel that delivereth me from all evils, bless these 
boys." ^ Here we see a holy Patriarch — one singu- 
larly favored by Almighty God, and enlightened by 
many supernatural visions, the father of Jehovah's 
chosen people — asking the angel in heaven to ob- 
tain a blessing for his grandcliildren. And surely 
we cannot suppose that he would be so ignorant as 
to pray to one that could not hear him ? 

The angel Raphael, after having disclosed him- 
self to Tobias, said to him : ^' AYhen thou didst pray 
with tears, and didst bury the dead, and didst leave 
thy dinner, I offered thy prayer to the Lord." ' 
How could the angel, if he were ignorant of these 
petitions, have presented to God the prayers of 
Tobias? 

To pass from the Old to the New Testament, our 
Saviour declares that ^' there shall be joy before the 
angels of God upon one sinner doing penance.'"'^ 
Then the angels are glad whenever you repent of 
your sins. Now, what is repentance ? It is a cbangr- 
of heart. It is an interior operation of tlie will 
The saints, therefore, are acquainted — we kur.w 
not how— -not only with your actions and words. 
but even with your very thoughts. 

» Gen. xlviii. IG. '' Tobias xii. 12. ' Luke xv. 10. 



180 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

And when St. Paul says that " we are made ^ 
spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men," ^ whaJ 
does he mean, unless that as our actions are seen 
by men, even so they are visible to the angels in 
heaven ? 

The examples I have quoted refer, it is true, to 
the angels. But our Lord declares that the saints 
in heaven shall be like the angelic spirits, by pos- 
sessing the same knowledge, enjoying the same 
happiness.^ 

We read in the Gospel that Dives, while suffer- 
ing in the place of the reprobates, earnestly besought 
Abraham to cool his burning thirst. And Ai)ra- 
ham, though then detained in Limbo, washable to 
listen and to reply to him. Now, if communication 
could exist between the souls of the just and of tho 
reprobate, how much easier is it to suppose thai 
interchange of thought can exist between the sainu< 
in heaven and their brethren on earth ? 

These few instances ar^ sufficient to convince you 
that the spirits in heaven hear our prayers. 

2. We have also abundant testimony from Scrip- 
ture to show that the saints assist us by their pray- 
ers. Almighty God threatened the inhabitants of 
Sodom and Gomorrha with utter destruction, on 
account of their crimes and abominations. Abra- 
ham interposes in their behalf; and in response to 
his prayer, God consents to spare those cities if only 
ten just men are found therein. Here. the aveng- 

* I. Cor. iv. 9. * Matt. xxii. HO. 



INYOCATIOX OF SAIXTS. 18) 

ing hand of God is suspended, and the fire of His 
wrath withheld, through the efficacy of the prayers 
of a single man I ^ 

We read in the Book of Exodus that when tlie 
Amalekites were about to wage war on the childre]j 
of Israel, Moses, the grent servant and ProiDhet of 
the Lord, went up on a mountain to pray for the 
success of his people; and the Scriptures inform us 
that whenever ]\Ioses raised his hands in prayer, the 
Israelites were victorious, but when he ceased to 
pray, Amalek conquered. Could the power of inter- 
cessory prayer be manifested in a more striking 
manner ? The silent prayer of Moses on the moun- 
tain was more formidable to the Amalekites thau 
the sword of Josue and his armed hosts fiofhtino; in 
the valley.^ 

When the same Hebrew people were banished 
from their native country, and carried into exile in 
Babylon, so great was their confidence in the pray- 
ers of their brethren in Jerusalem, that they sent 
them the followiuor message, too:ether with a sum of 
money, that sacrifice might be ofiered up for them 
in the holy city : " Pray ye for us to the Lord our 
God, for we have sinned against the Lord our 
God."« 

When the friends of Job had excited the indig 
nation of the Almighty, in consequence of theii 
vain speech, God, instead of directly granting them 

* Gen. xviii. ^ Exod. xvii. ' Baruch i. 1 3. 

16 



182 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

the paidon which they sought, commanded them to 
invoke the intercession of Job: "Go, * He says,' to 
My servant Job, and offer for yourselves a holocaust, 
and My servant Job will pray for you, and his face 
wdll I accept." ^ Nor did they appeal to Job in 
vain ; for, " the Lord was turned at the penance of 
Job when he prayed for his friends." ^ In this in- 
stance, w^e not only see the value of intercessory 
prayei, but we find God sanctioning it by His own 
authority. 

Bui of all the sacred writers, there is none that 
reposfs greater confidence in the prayers of his 
breth] en than St. Paul, although no one had a better 
knowledge than he of the infinite merits of our 
Savio ir's passion, and no one could have more 
endeared himself to God by his personal labors. 
In hi?; Epistles, St. Paul repeatedly asks for himself 
the prayers of his disciples. If he wishes to be de- 
livered from the hands of the unbelievers of Judea, 
and that his ministry may be successful in Jerusa- 
lem, he asks the Eomans to obtain those favors for 
him. If he desires the grace of preaching with 
profit the Gospel to the Gentiles, he invokes the 
intercession of the Ephesians. 

Kay, is it not a common practice among ourselves 
and even among our dissenting brethren, to ask the 
prayers of one another? When a father is about to 
leave his house on a long journey, the instinct of 

' Job xhi. ' Ibid. 



INVOCATION OF SAINTS. 18? 

piety prompts him to say to his wife and children: 
" Remember me in your prayers/' 

Now I ask you, if our friends, though sinners, can 
aid us by their prayers, why cannot our friends, the 
saints of God, be able to assist us also ? If Abra- 
ham, and Moses, and Job exercised so much in- 
fluence with the Almighty while they lived in the 
flesh, is their power with God diminished now that 
they reign with him in heaven ? 

We are moved by the children of Israel sending 
their pious petitions to their brethren in Jerusalem. 
They recalled to mind, no doubt, what the Lord said 
to Solomon after he had completed the temple : " My 
eyes shall be open, and My ears attentive to the 
prayer of him that shall pray in this place." ^ If 
the supplications of those that prayed in the earthly 
Jerusalem were so efficacious, what will Gt)d .refuse 
to those who pray to Him face to face in the 
heavenly Jerusalem ? 

3. But you will ask, are the saints in heaven so 
interested in our welfare as to be mindful of us in 
their prayers ? Or, are they so much absorbed in 
the contemplation of God, and in the enjoyment of 
celestial bliss, as to be altogether regardless of their 
friends on earth ? Far from us the suspicion that 
the saints reigning with God ever forget us. If they 
have one desire greater than another, it is to see 
us one day wearing the crowns which await us in 
heaven. And if they were capable of experiencing 

^ II. Paralip. vii. 15. 



I34 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

sorrow, their grief would spring from the considera- 
tion that we do not always walk in their footsteps 
here, so as to make sure our election to eternal glory 
hereafter. 

The Hebrew people, like us, believed that the 
saints after death were occupied in praying for us. 
We read in the Book of Machabeus, that Judas 
Machabeus, the night before he engaged in battle 
with the army of the impious Xicanor, had a super- 
natural dream, or vision, in which he behehl Onias, 
the high-priest, and the prophet Jeremiah, both of 
whom had been long since dead. Onias appeared 
to him with outstretched arms, praying for the people 
of God; and pointing towards Jeremiah, Onias said 
to Judas Machabeus ; '' This is a lover of his 
brethren, and the people of Israel. This is he that 
prayeth much for the people, and for all the holy 
city, Jeremiah the prophet of God." ^ Then Jere- 
miah, as is related in the sequel of the vision, handed 
a sword to Judas, with which the prophet predicted 
that Judas would conquer his enemies. The soldiers, 
animated by the relation of Judas, fought with in- 
vincible courage, and overcame the enemy. The 
Book of Machabeus, though not admitted by our 
dissenting brethren to be inspired, must be at least 
acknowledged by them a faithful historical record. 
[t is manifest, therefore, from this narrative, that 
tlie Hebrew people believed that the saints in heaven 
pray for their brethren on earth. 

^ II. Mac. XV. 14. 



INVOCATION OF SAINIS. IW 

St. John, in his Revelation, describes the saints 
before the throne of God praying for their earthly 
brethren: "The four and twenty ancients fell dow^ 
before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, 
and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers 
of the saints." ^ 

The prophet Zachariah records a prayer that was 
offered by the angel for the people of God, and the 
favorable answer which came from heaven : *' How 
long, O Lord, wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusa- 
lem, and on the cities of Juda, with which Thou 
hast been angry? .... And the Lord answered 
the angel .... good words, comfortable words." "'' 

Nor can we be surprised to learn that the angels 
labor for our salvation, since we are told by St. 
Peter that " the Devil goeth about like a roaring 
lion, seeking whom he may devour ; " for, if hate 
impels the demons to ruin us, surely love must in- 
spire the angels to help us in securmg the crown of 
glory. And if the angels are so mindful of us, 
though of a different nature from ours, how much 
more interest do the saints manifest in our welfare, 
who are bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh ? 

To ask the prayers of our brethren in heaven is 
not only conformable to Holy Scripture, but is 
prompted by the instincts of our nature. The 
Catholic doctrine of the Communion of Saints robs 
death of its terrors; while the Reformers of the 
sixteenth century, in denying the Communion of 

1 Kevel. V. 8. =^Zach. i. 12, 13. 

16* 



186 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Saints, not only inflicted a deadly wound on the 
Creed, but also severed the tenderest chords of the 
human heart. They broke asunder the holy ties 
that united earth with heaven, and the soul in the 
flesh with the soul released from the flesh. If my 
brother leaves me to cross the seas, I believe that he 
continues to pray for me. And when he crosses the 
narrow sea of death, and lands on the shores of 
eternity, why should he not pray for me still? 
What does death destroy? The body. The soul 
still lives and moves and has its being. It thinks 
and wills and remembers and loves. The dross of 
sin and selfishness and hatred are burned by the 
salutary fires of contrition, and nothing remains but 
the pure gold of charity. 

Oh, far be from us the dreary thought that death 
cuts ofl* our friends entirely from us ! Far be from 
us the heartless creed which declares a perpetual 
divorce between us and the just in heaven! Do 
not imagine, when you lose a father or mother, a 
tender sister or brother who died in the peace of 
Christ, that they are forgetful of you. The love 
they bore you on earth is purified and intensified 
in heaven. Or, if your innocent child, regenerated 
in the waters of baptism, is snatched from you by 
death, be assured that, though separated from you 
in body, that child is with you in spirit, and is re- 
paying you a thousand-fold for the natural life it 
received from you. Be convinced that the golden 
link of prayer binds you to that angejic infant, and 



INVOCATION OF SAINIS. lS7 

that it is continually oSering up its fervent petitions 
at the throne of God for you, that you both may be 
reunited in heaven. 

But I hear men cry out with Pharisaical assui'- 
ance. '* You dishonor God, sir, in praying to the 
saints. You make void the mediatorship of Jesus 
Christ. You put the creature above the Creator." 

How utterly groundless is this objection ! We do 
not dishonor God in praying to the saints. We 
should indeed dishonor Him, if we consulted the 
saints independently of God. But such is not our 
practice. The Catholic Church teaches, on the con^ 
trary, that God alone is the Giver of all good gifts ; 
that He is the Source of all blessings, the Fountain 
of all goodness. She teaches that whatever happi- 
ness, or glory, or influence the saints possess, all 
comes from God. As the moon borrows her light 
from the sun, so do the blessed borrow their light 
from Jesus, " the Sun of Justice," the one Mediator 
(of redemption) of God and men." ^ Hence, when 
we address the saints, we beg them to pray lor us 
through the merits of Jesus Christ, while we ask 
Jesus to help us through His own merits. 

But what is the use of praying to the saints, since 
God can hear us? If it is vain and useless to praj 
to the saints because God can hear us, then Jacol. 
was wrong in praying to the angel ; then the friends 
of Job were wrong in asking him to pray for them, 

» I. Tim. 11. 5. 



188 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

though God commanded them to invoke Job's inter- 
cession. Then the Jews exiled in Babylon were 
wrong in asking their brethren in Jerusalem to pray 
for them ; then St. Paul was wrong in beseeching 
his friends to pray for him ; then we are all wrong 
in prajang for each other. You deem it useful and 
pi HIS to ask your pastor to pray for you. Is it not, 
at least, equally useful for me to invoke the prayers 
af St. Paul, since I am convinced that he can hear 
me? 

God forbid that our supplications to our Father 
in heaven should diminish in proportion as our 
prayers to -he saints are increased; for, after all, 
we must remember that, while the Church declares 
it to be necessary for salvation to pray to God, she 
merely asserts that it is " good and useful to invoke 
the saints." ^ 

To ask the prayers of the saints, far from being 
useless, is most profitable. By invoking their inter- 
cession, instead of one we have many praying for 
us. To our own tepid petitions we unite the fervent 
supplications of the blessed; and "the Lord will 
hear the prayers of the just." ^ To the petitions of 
us, poor pilgrims in this vale of tears, are united 
those of the citizens of heaven. We ask them to 
[)ray to their God and to our God ; to their Fathei 
acd to our Father, that we may one day share theii 

* Cbuncil of Trent, Sess. xxv. ^ Prov. xv. 29. 



SACKED IMAGES. 185 

deligh's in that blessed country in company with 
OMT common Redeemer, Jesus Christ, with whom to 
live is to rei^n. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SACRED IMAGES. 

THE veneration of the images of Christ and Hi? 
saints is a cherished devotion in the Catholic 
Church, and this practice will be vindicated in the 
following lines. 

It is true, indeed, that the making of holy images 
was not so general among the Jews as it is among 
us, because the Hebrews themselves were prone to 
idolatry, and because they were surrounded by 
idolatrous people who might misconstrue the pur- 
pose for which the images were intended. For the 
same prudential reasons, the primitive Christians 
were very cautious in making images, and very 
circumspect in exposing them to the gaze of the 
heathen among whom they lived, lest Christian 
images should be confounded with Pagan idols. 

'I'iie catacombs of Rome, to which the faithful 
alone were admitted, abounded, however, in sacred 
emblems and pious representations, v;hieh are pre- 
served even to this day, and attest the practice of 
the early Christian Church. You could see there 
painted on the walls, or on vases of glass, the Dove, 
the emblem of the Holy Ghost ; Christ carrying 



190 THE FAITH OF OUB FATHERS. 

His crosb, or bearing on His shoulders the lost 
sheep. You could also raeet with the Lamb, and 
an anchor, and a ship, appropriate types of our 
Lord, of hope, and of the Church. 

The first crusade against images was waged m 
the eighth century by Leo the Isaurian, Emperor 
of Constantinople. He commanded the paintings 
of our Lord and His saints to be torn down from 
the church walls, and to be burnt. He even 
invaded the sanctuary of home, and snatched from 
thence the sacred emblems which adorned private 
residences. He caused the statues of bronze, silver, 
and gold to be melted down, and conveniently con- 
verted them into coins, upon which his own image 
was stamped. Like Henry VIII. and Cromwell, 
this royal Iconoclast affected to be moved by a 
zeal for purity of worship, while avarice was the 
real motive of his action. 

The Emperor commanded the learned librarians 
of his imperial library to give public approbation to 
his decrees against images ; and when those consci- 
entious men refused to endorse his course, they were 
all confined in the imperial library, the building 
was set on fire, and thirty thousand volumes, the 
splendid basilica which contained them, innumer- 
able paintings, and the librarians themselves, were 
all involved in one common destruction. 

Constantine Coprouymus prosecuted the vandal- 
ism of Leo, his predecessor. Stephen, an intrepid 
monk, presented to the Emperor a coin bearing 



SACRED IMAGES. 191 

that tyrant's effigy, with these words : " Sire, whose 
iraage is this?" "It is mine,'' replied the Em- 
peror. The monk then threw down the piece of 
money and trampled it. He was instantly seized 
by the imperial attendants, and soon after put 
to a painful death. "Alas!" cried the holy man 
to the Emperor ; " if I am punished for dishonor- 
ing the image of a mortal monarch, what punish- 
ment do they deserve who burn the image of Jesus 
Christ?" 

The demolition of images was revived by the Re- 
formers of the sixteenth century. Paintings and 
statues were ruthlessly destroyed, chiefly in the 
British Isles, Germany, and Holland, under the 
pretext that the making of them was idolatrous. 
But as the Iconoclasts of the eighth century had 
no scruple about appropriating to their own use 
the gold and silver of the statues which they 
melted, neither had the Iconoclasts of the six- 
teenth century any hesitation in confiscating and 
worshipping in the idolatrous churches whose stat- 
ues and paintings they broke and disfigured. 

A stranger who visits some of the desecrated Cath- 
olic churches of Great Britain and the Continent 
which are now used as Protestant temples, cannot 
fail to notice the mutilated statues of the saints still 
standing in their niches. 

This barbaric warfare against religious memorials 
was not only a grievous sacrilege, but an outrage 
against the fine arts ; and had the destroying angeis 



192 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

extended their ravages over Europe, the immortal 
works of Michael Angelo aud Raphael would be 
lost to us to-day. 

The doctrine of the Catliolic Church regarding 
the use of sacred images, is clearly and fully ex- 
pressed by the General Council of Trent in the fol- 
lowing words : " The images of Christ, and of His 
Virgin Mother, and of other Saints, are to be had 
and retained, especially in churches ; and a due 
honor and veneration is to be given to them : not 
that any divinity or virtue is believed to be in 
them, for which they are to be honored, or that 
any prayer is to be made to them, or that any 
confidence is to be placed in them, as vras formerly 
done by the heathens, who placed their hopes in 
idols ; but because the honor which is given them 
is referred to the originals which they represent, 
so that by the images which we kiss, and before 
which we uncover our heads or kneel, we adore 
Christ, and venerate His saints, whose likeness 
they represent." ^ 

Every Catholic child clearly comprehends the es- 
sential difference which exists between a Pagan idol 
and a Christian image. The Pagans looked upon 
an idol as a god endowed with intelligence, and 
the other attributes of the Deity. They were, 
therefore idolaters, or image icorshijjpers. Catholic 
Christiars know that a holy image has no intelli- 

^ SeR8. XXV. 



SACKED IMAGES. 193 

gence or power to hear and help them. But they 
pay it a relative respect; that is, their reverence 
for the copy is proportioned to the veneration 
which they entertain for the heavenly original, to 
vhich it is also referred. 

For the sake of my Protestant readers, I may 
here quote their own great Leibnitz on the rever- 
ence paid to sacred images. He says, in his Sys- 
tenia TJieologicuvi, p. 142 : " Tliough we speak of 
the honor paid to images, yet this is only a man- 
ner of speaking, which really means that we honor 
not the senseless thing which is incapable of under- 
standing such honor, but the prototype, which re- 
ceives honor through its representation, according 
to the teaching of the Council of Trent. It is in 
this sense, I take it, that scholastic writers have 
spoken of the same worship being paid to images 
of Christ as to Christ our Lord himself; for the 
act which is called the worship of an image is 
really the worship of Christ himself, through and 
in the presence of the image and by occasion of 
it ; by the inclination of the body towards it as to 
Christ himself, as rendering Him more manifestly 
present, and raising the mind more actively to the 
contemplation of Him. Certainly, no sane man 
ihinks, under such circumstances, of praying in 
this wise : ' Give me, O image, what I ask ; to tnee, 
D m.arble or wood, I give thanks ; ' but ' Thee, 
Lord, I adore ; to Thee I give thanks, and sing 
songs of praise.' Given, then, that there is no 
17 N 



194 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

other ^;eneration of images than that which means 
veneration of their prototype, there is surely no 
more idoLatry in it than there is in the respect 
shown in the utterance of the Most Holy Names 
of God and Christ ; for, after all, names are but 
signs or symbols, and eyen, as such, inferior to 
images, for they represent much less yiyidly. So 
that when there is question of honoring images, 
this is to be understood in the same way as when 
it is said that at the name of Jesus every knee 
shall bend, or that the name of the Lord is blessed, 
or that glory be given to His Name. Thus, the 
bowino; before an imao^e outside of us is no more 
to be reprehended than the worshipping before 
an internal image in our own minds ; for the ex- 
ternal image does but serve the purpose of expres- 
sing visibly that which is internal." 

In the Book of Exodus, we read: "Thou shalt 
not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness 
of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth 
beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters 
under the earth. Thou shalt not adore them nor 
serve them." ^ Protestants contend that these words 
contain an absolute prohibition against the making 
of images ; while the Catholic Church insists that 
the commandment referred to merely prohibits u? 
from worshipping them as gods. 

The text cannot mean the absolute prohibition 
of makincT ima<j:es ; for in that case God would 

^ Chap. XX. 



SACKED IMAGES. 19o 

cx>ut,raclict Himself, by commanding in one part of 
Scripture what He condemns in another. In Ex- 
odus (xxv. 18), for instance, He commands two 
cherubim of beaten gold to be made and plaeet] 
on each side of the oracle ; and in Numbers (xxi, 
8) He commands Moses to make a brazen serpent. 
and to set it up for a sign, that " whosoevej:* being 
struck bj^the fiery serpents shall look upon it shall 
live.'* Are not cherubim and serpents the likenesses 
of creatures in heaven above, in the earth beneath, and 
in the waters under the earth? for cherubim dwelJ 
in heaven, and serpents are found on land and sea. 

We should all, without exception, break the com- 
mandment, were we to take it in the Protestant 
sense. Have you not at home the portraits of liv- 
ing and departed relatives? And are not these the 
likenesses of persons in heaven above, and on the 
earth beneath? 

Westminster Abbey, though once a Catholic Cath- 
edral, is now a Protestant house of worship. It is 
filled with the statues of illustrious men; yet no one 
will accuse the English church of idolatry in allow- 
ing those statues to remain there. But you will say : 
The worshippers in Westminster have no intenti<jn 
u)f adoring these statues. Neither have we any in- 
tention of worshipping the statues of the saints. An 
English Parson once remarked to a Catholic friend; 
'* Tom, don't you pray to images? " '' We pray be- 
fore them," replied Tom ; ^' but we have no inten- 
tion of praying to them." " Who cares for your 



196 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

intention," retorted the Parson. " Don't you pray 
at night ? " observed Tom. " Yes," said the Parson ; 
" I pray at my bed.'' " Yes ; you pray to the bed- 
post." " Oh, no I " said the reverend gentleman ; 
"I have no intention of doing that." "Who cares," 
replieii Tom, " for your intention." 

The moral rectitude or depravity of our actions 
cannot be determined without taking into account 
the intention. 

There are many persons who have been taught 
in the nursery tales that Catholics worship idols. 
These persons, if they visit Europe, and see an old 
man praying before an image of our Lord or a Ma- 
donna, which is placed along the wayside, are at 
once confirmed in their prejudices. Their zeal 
against idols takes fire, and they write home, add- 
ing one more proof of idolatry against the be- 
nighted Romanists. If these superficial travellers 
had only the patience to question the old man, he 
would tell them, with simplicity of faith, that the 
statue had no life to hear or help him, but that its 
contemplation inspired him with greater reverence 
for the original. 

As I am writing for the information of Protest- 
ants, I quote with pleasure the following passage, 
wriiteu by one of their own theologians, in the Eii- 
'tyclopedie (Edit. d'Yverdun, tom. 1, art. Adorer) : 

" When Lot prostrates himself before the two an- 
gels, it is an act of courtesy towards honored guests; 
when Jacob bows down before Esau, it is an act of 



SACRED IMAGES. 197 

deference from a younger to an elder brother , >vhen 
Solomon bows low before Bethsabee, it is the honor 
which a son pays to his mother ; when Nathan, 
coming in before David, 'had worshipped, bowing 
down to the ground,' it is the homage of a subject 
to his prince. But when a man prostrates himself 
in prayer to God, it is the creature adoring the Cre- 
ator. And if these various actions are expressedp 
sometimes by the word adore, sometimes by ivorMp 
or prostration, it is not the bare meaning of the word 
which has guided interpreters in rendering it, but 
the nature of the case. AVhen an Israelite pros- 
trated himself before the king, no one thought of 
charging him with idolatry. If he had done the 
same thing in the presence of an idol, the very 
same bodily act would have been called idolatry. 
And why? Because all men would have judged 
by his action that he regarded the idol as a real 
divinity, and that he would express, in respect to 
it, the sentiments manifested by adoration, in the 
limited sense which we give to the word. What 
shall we think, then, of what Catholics do to show 
honor to saints, to relics, to the w^ood of the cross ? 
They will not deny that their acts of reverence, in 
such cases, are very much like those by which they 
pay outward honor to God. But have they the 
same ideas about the saints, the relics, and the 
cross, as they have about God ? I believe that we 
cannot fairly accuse them of it." 

A gentleman who was present at the unveiling of 
17* 



198 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Clay's statue iu the city of RichmoDd, informed me 
that as soon as the curtain was uplifted, and the 
noble form of the Kentucky statesman appeared in 
full view, the immense concourse of spectators in- 
Btiuctively uncovered their heads. " Why do you 
take off your hat ? " playfully remarked my friend 
to an acquaintance who stood by. " In honor, of 
course, of Henry Clay," he replied. " But Henry 
IS not there in the flesh. You see nothing but clayj^ 
" But my intention, sir," he continued, " is to do 
honor to the original." He answered correctly. 
And yet how many of the same people would be 
shocked, if they saw a man take off his hat in pres- 
ence of a statue of St. Peter ? It is not, therefore, 
the making of the image, but its worship, that is 
condemned by the Decalogue. 

Having seen the lawfulness of sacred images, let 
us now consider the advantages to be derived from 
their use. 

1. Religious paintings embellish the house of God, 
What is more becoming than to adorn the church, 
which is the shadow of the heavenly Jerusalem, 
so beautifully described by St. John ? ^ Solomon 
decorated the temple of God with images of cher- 
ubim, and other representations. " And he over- 
laid the cherubim with gold. And all the walls 
of the temple round about he carved with di- 
vers figures and carvings." ^ If it was meet and 
prcper to adorn Solomon's temple, which contained 

* Apoc. xxi. ^ III. Kings vi. 



SACRED IMAGES. 1>>9 

only the Ark of the Lord, how much more fitting 
is it to decorate our churches, which contain the 
Lord of the Ark? When I see a church tastefully 
ornamented, it is a sure sign that the Master is ai 
home, and that His devoted subjects pay homage to 
Him in His court. 

What beauty, what variety, what charming pic- 
tures are presented to our view in this temple of 
nature which we inhabit ! Look at the canopy of 
heaven. Look at the exquisite pictures painted by 
the hand of the divine i^rtist on this earth. " Con- 
sider the lilies of the field I say to you that 

not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as 
one of these." If the temple of nature is so richly 
adorned, should not our temples made with hands 
bear some resemblance to it? 

How many professing Christians must, like David, 
reproach themselves for '' dwelling in a house of 
cedar, while the ark of God is lodged with skins." ^ 
How many are there whose private apartments are 
adorned with exquisite paintings, who aftect to be 
scandalized at the sight of a single pious emblem in 
their houses of worship? On the occasion of the 
celebration of Henry W. Beecher's silver wedding, 
several wealthy members of his congregation adorned 
the walls of Plymouth church with their private 
paintings. Their object, of course, in doing so was 
not to honor God, but their Pastor. But if the 
portraits of men were no desecration to that church, 

1 II. Kings vii. 2. 



200 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

how can the portraits of saints desecrate ours?^ 
And what can be more appropriate than to surround 
the Sanctuary of Jesus Christ with the portraits of 
the saints, especially of Mary and of the Apostles, 
who, in their life, ministered to His sacred person ? 
And is it not natural for children to adorn their 
homes with the likenesses of their Fathers in the 
faith ? 

2. Religious paintings are the catechism of the 
'tgnorant. In spite of all the efforts of Church and 
State in the cause of education, a great proportion 
3f the human race will be found illiterate. De- 
scriptive pictures will teach those what books make 
known to the learned. 

How many thousands would have died ignorant 
of the Christian faith, if they had not been en- 
lightened by paintings ! When Augustine, the 
Apostle of England, first appeared before King 
Ethelbert, to announce to him the Gospel, a silver 
crucifix, and a painting of our Saviour, were borne 
before the preacher; and these images spoke more 
tenderly to the eyes than his words to the ears of 
his audience. 

By means of religious emblems, St. Francis Xavier 
effected many conversions in India; and by the same 
means Father De Smet made known the Gospel to 
llie savages of the Rocky Mountains. 

*At the WashiTigton and Lee University, Lexint^ton, Va^ 
in the sanctuary of the chapel, the portrait of an opuieDt benir- 
factor holds a conspicuous place. 



SACKED IMAGES. 201 

3. By exhibiting religious paintings in our rooms, 

we make a silent, though eloquent, profession of our 
faith. I once called on a^ gentleman in a distant 
city, some time during our late war, and, on entering 
his library, I noticed two portraits, one of a dis- 
tinguished general, the other of an archbishop. 
These portraits at once proclaimed to me the re- 
ligious and patriotic sentiments of the propri- 
etor of the house. '' Behold I '' he said to me, 
pointing to the pictures, '' mv religious creed and 
my political creed." If I see a crucifix in a 
man's room, I am convinced at once that he is 
not an infidel. 

4. By the aid of sacred pictures, our devotion and 
love for the original are intensified., because ice can con- 
centrate our thoughts more intently on the object of our 
affections. Mark how the eye of a tender child 
glistens on confronting the painting of an afiection- 
ate mother. What Christian can stand unmoved, 
when contemplating a picture of the Mother of Sor- 
rows ? How much devotion has been fostered by 
the stations of the cross? Observe the intense 
sympathy depicted on the face of the humble Chris- 
tian woman as she silently passes from one station 
to another. She follows her Saviour step by step 
from the Garden to Mount Calvary. The whole 
scene, like a panoramic view, is imprinted on her 
mind, her memory, and her afiections. Never did 
the most pathetic sermon on the Passion enkindle 
such heartfelt love, or evoke such salutary resolu- 



202 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

tious, as have been produced by the silent spectacle 

of our Saviour hanging on the cross. 

5. The portraits of the saints stimulate us to the imir 
tation of their virtues ; and this is the principal aim 
whi(!h the Church has in view in CDcouragiug the 
use of pious representations. One object, it is true, 
is to lionor the saints ; another is to invoke them : 
but the principal end is to incite us to an imitation 
of their holy lives. We are exhorted to " look and 
do according to the pattern shown us on the mount." * 
Nor do I know a better means for promoting piety 
than by example. 

If you keep at home the likenesses of George 
Washington, of Patrick Henry, of Chief- Justice 
Taney, or of other distinguished men, the copies 
of such eminent originals cannot fail to exercise a 
salutary though silent influence on the mind and 
heart of your child. Your son will ask you : Who 
are those men ? And when you tell him : This is 
Washington, the Father of his Country ; this is 
Patrick Henry, the ardent lover of civil liberty; 
and this is Taney, the incorruptible Judge, your 
boy will imperceptibly imbibe not only a venera- 
tion for those men, but a relish for the civic vir- 
tues for which they were conspicuous. And in 
like manner, when our children have constantly 
before their eyes the purest and most exalted mod- 
els of sanctity, they cannot fail to draw from such a 



1 Exod. XXV. 40. 



SACEED IMAGES. 20S 

contemplation a taste for the virtues which marked 
the lives of the origirals. 

Is not our country flooded with obscene pictures 
and immodest representations which corrup; oui 
youth? If the agents of Satan employ such vile 
meana for a bad end ; if they are cunning enough 
to pour through the senses, into the hearts of the 
unwary, the insidious poison of sin, by placing be- 
fore them lascivious portraits ; in God's name, why 
should not we sanctify the souls of our children by 
means of pious emblems? Why should not we make 
the eye the instrument of edification, as the enemy 
makes it the organ of destruction? Shall the pen 
of the artist, the pencil of the painter, and the chisel 
of the sculptor be prostituted to the basest purposes ? 
God forbid ! The arts were intended to be the hand- 
maids of relio:ion. ' 

Almost every moment of the day the eye is re- 
ceiving impressions from outward objects, and is 
instantly communicating these impressions to the 
soul ; and thus the soul receives every day thou- 
sands of impressions, which are good or bad ac- 
cording to the character of the objects presented 
to its gaze. 

We cannot, therefore, overestimate the salutii ry 
effect produced upon us in a church or room 
adorned with sacred paintings. We feel, while in 
their presence, that we are in the company of the 
just, and the contemplation of these pious portraits 
chastens our affections, elevates our thoughts, checks 



204 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

uar lev^'ty, and diffuses around us a healthy atmo^ 
phere. 

T am happy to acknowledge that the outcry form- 
erly raised against images has almost subsided of 
late. The epithet of idolaters is seldom applied to 
us now. Even some of our dissenting brethren are 
already beginning to recognize the utility of reli- 
gious symbols, and to regret that we have been per- 
mitted, by the intemperate zeal of the Reformers, to 
have so long the monopoly of them. Crosses already 
surmount some of our Protestant churches, and re- 
place the weather-cock. 

A gentleman of Richmond recently informed me 
that during the preceding Holy Week he adorned 
with twelve crosses an Episcopal church where, 
eleven years before, the sight of a single cross was 
viewed with horror by the minister. 

May the day soon come when all Christians wdll 
join with us not only in venerating the sacred sym- 
bol of salvation, but in worshipping at the same 
altar. 



CHAPTER XV. 

PURGATORY, AND PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD. 

n'^HE Catholic Church teaches that, besides a place 
X of eternal torments for the wicked and of ever- 
lasting rest for the righteous, there exists in the next 
life a middle state oi* temporary punishment, allotttMi 



PURGATORY, ETC. 



2C5 



for those who have died in venial sin, or who have 
not satisfied the justice of God for sins already for- 
given. She also teaches us that, although the souls 
consigned to this intermediate state, commonly called 
Purgatory, cannot help themselves, they may be 
aided by the suffrages of the faithful on earth. TliQ 
existence of Purgatory naturally implies the correla- 
tive dogma, — the utility of praying for the dead; 
for, the souls consigned to this middle state have 
not reached the term of their journey. They are 
still exiles from heaven, and are fit subjects for 
divine clemency. 

Is it not strange that this cherished doctrine 
should also be called in question by the levelling in- 
novators of the sixteenth century, when we con- 
sider that it is clearly taught in the Old Testament ; 
that it is, at least, insinuated in the New Testament ; 
that it is unanimously proclaimed by the Fathers of 
the Church ; that it is embodied in all the ancient 
liturgies of the Oriental and the Western church ; 
and that it is a doctrine alike consonant with our 
reason, and eminently consoling to the human heart ? 

1. It is a doctrine plainly contained in the Old 
Testament and piously practised by the Hebrew 
people. At the close of an engagement which Judas 
Machabeus had with the enemy, he ordered prayers 
and sacrifices to be offered up for his slain comrades. 
" And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand 
drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be 
offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and 
18 



206 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

religiously concerning the resurrection. For, if he 
had not hoped that they that were slain should rise 
again, it would have seemed superfluous and vain to 
pray for the dead. ... It is, therefore, a holy and 
wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they 
may be loosed from sins.'' ^ 

These words are so forcible that no comment of 
mine could render them clearer. This passage proved 
a great stumbling-block to the Reformers. Finding 
that the^'- could not by any evasion weaken the force 
of the text, they impiously threw overboard the 
Books of Machabees, like a man who assassinates 
a hostile witness. They pretended that the two 
Bocks of Machabees were apocryphal. And yet 
they have precisely the same authority as the Gos- 
pel of St. Matthew or any other portion of the 
Bible. For, the canon icity of the Holy Scriptures 
rests solely on the authority of the Catholic Church, 
which proclaimed them inspired. 

Brt even admitting, for the sake of argument, 
that the Books of Machabees were not entitled to be 
ranked among the canonical Books of Holy Scrip- 
ture, no one, at least, has ever denied that they are 
truthful historical monuments, and, as such, that 
they serve to demonstrate that it was a prevail- 
ing practice among the Hebrew people, as it is 
witii us, to offer up prayers and sacrifices for the 
dead. 

2. When our Saviour, the Founder of the New 

MI. Mach. xii. 48-46. 



PURGAfOPwY, ETC. 207 

Law, aj)peared on earth, He came to lop off those 
excrescences which had grown on the body of the 
Jewish ecclesiastical code, and to purify the Jewish 
Church from those human traditions which, in the 
course of time, became like chaff mixed with the 
wheat of sound doctrine. For instance, He con- 
demns the Pharisees for prohibiting the perform- 
ance of works of charity on the Sabbath day, and 
m the twenty-third chapter of St. Matthew He 
cites against them a long catalogue of innovations 
in doctrine and discipline. 

But did our Lord, at any time, reprove the Jews 
for their belief in a middle state, or for praying for 
the dead, a practice which, to His knowledge, pre- 
vailed among the people ? Never. On the contrary, 
more than once both He and the Apostle of the 
Gentiles insinuate the doctrine of Purgatory. 

Our Saviour says : " Whosoever shall speak a 
word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven 
him. But he that shall speak against the Holy 
Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this 
world nor in the world to come," ^ When oui 
Saviour declares that a sin against the Holy Ghost 
shall not be forgiven in the next life. He evidently 
leaves us to infer that there are some sins which 
will be pardoned in the life to come. 

St. Paul tells us that " every man's work shall be 
manifest " on the Lord's day. " The fire shall try 
every man's work, of w^hat sort it is. If any man's 

^ Matt. xii. 32. 



ZU5 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

work abide," that is, if his works are holy, "be 
shall receive a reward. If any man's work burn,'' 
that is, if his works are faulty and imperfect, '' he 
shall suffer loss ; but he himself shall be saved, yet 
So as by fire." ^ His soul will be ultimately saved, 
but he shall suffer, for a temporary duration, in the 
purifying flames of Purgatory. 

This interpretation is not mine. It is the unani- 
mous voice of the Fathers of Christendom. And 
who are they that have removed the time-honored 
landmarks of Christian faith by rejecting the doc- 
trine of Purgatory? They are discontented church- 
men, impatient of the religious yoke, men who ap- 
peared on the stage sixteen hundred years after the 
foundation of Christianity. Judge you, reader, 
whom you ought to follow. If you want to know 
the true import of a vital question in the Consti- 
tution, would you not follow the decision of a Story, 
a Jefferson, a Marshall, a Taney, jurists and states- 
men, who were the recognized expounders of the 
Constitution ? Would you not prefer their opinion 
to that of political demagogues, who have neither 
learning, nor authority, nor history, to support 
them, but some selfish end to further? Now, the 
same motive which you have for rejecting the 
opinion of an ignorant politician, and embracing 
::hat of eminent jurists, on a constitutional question, 
impels you to cast aside the novelties of religious 
innovators,' and to follow the unanimous sentiments 

1 I. Cor. iii. 13-15. 



PURGATORY, ETC. 209 

of the Fathers in reference to the subject of Purga- 
tory. 

3. I would wish to place before you extended ex- 
tracts from the writings of the early Fathers of the 
Church bearing upon this subject; but I must con- 
tent myself with quoting a few^ of the most promi- 
nent lights of primitive Christianity. 

Tertullian, who lived in the second century, says 
that '' the faithful wife will pray for the soul of her 
deceased husband, particularly on the anniversary 
day of his falling asleep (death). And if she fail 
to do so, she hath repudiated her husband as far as 
in her lies." ^ 

Eusebius (4th cent.), the historian, describing the 
funeral of Constantino the Great, says that the body 
of the blessed prince was placed on a lofty bier, and 
the ministers of God, and the multitude of the 
people, with tears and much lamentation, offered up 
prayers and sacrifice for the repose of his soul. 
And the historian adds that this was done in accord- 
ance with the desires of that religious monarch, who 
had erected in Constantinople the great church in 
honor of the Apostles, so that after his death the 
faithful might there remember him.^ 

St. Cyril of Jerusalem (4th cent.) writes : " We 
commemorate the Holy Fathers, and Bishops, and 
all who have fallen asleep from amongst us, believ- 
ing that the supplications which we present will bo 

' De Monogam., n. x. ' Euseb., B. iv., c. 71. 

18 * () 



210 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

of great assistance to their souls, while the holy an?^ 
tremendous sacrifice is offered up." And he answers 
by an illustration those who might be disposed to 
doubt the efficacy of prayers for the dead : " If a 
king had banished certain persons who had offended 
him, and their relations having woven a crown, 
should offer it to him in behalf of those under his 
vengeance, would he not grant a respite to their 
punishments? So we, in offering up a crown of 
prayers in behalf of those who have fallen asleep, 
will obtain for them forgiveness through the merits 
of Christ."^ 

St. Ephrem, in the same century, says : " I con- 
jure you, my brethren and friends, in the name of 
that God who commands me to leave you, to re- 
member me when you assemble to pray. Do not 
bury me with perfumes. Give them not to me, but 
to God. Me, conceived in sorrows, bury with lamen- 
tations, and instead of perfumes, assist me with your 
prayers ; for the dead are benefited by the prayers 
of living saints." ^ 

St. Ambrose (same century), on the death of the 
Emperors Gratian and Valentinian, says : " Blessed 
shall both of you be (Gratian and Valentinian), if 
my prayers caa avail anything. No day shall pass 
yoa over in silence. No prayer of mine shall omit 
to honor you. No night shall hurry by without 
bestowing on you a mention in my prayers. In 

^ Catech., n. 9, 10, p. 328. 

« Apud Faith of Catholics, Vol. III., p. 162 and seq. 



PURGATORY, ETC. 211 

every one of the oblations will I remember yoa." 
And on the death of the Emperor Theodosius, he 
offers the following prayer : " Give perfect rest to 
Thy servant Theodosius, that rest which Thou ha^t 
prepared for Thy saints. May his soul return thither 
whence it descended, where it cannot feel the sting 

of death I loved him, and therefore will I 

follow him, even unto the land of the living. Nor 
will I leave him until, by tears and prayers, I shall 
lead him .... unto the holy mountain of the Lord, 
where is life undying, where corruption is not, nor 
feighing nor mourning." ^ 

St. Jerome, in the same century, in a letter of 
condolence to Pammachius, on the death of his wife 
Paulina, writes : " Other husbands strew violets and 
roses on the graves of their wives. Our Pammachius 
bedews the hallowed dust of Paulina with balsams 
of alms/' ' 

And St. Chrysostom writes: " It was not without 
good reason ordained by the Apostles, that mention 
should be made of the dead in the tremendous 
mysteries, because they knew well that these would 
receive great benefit from it." ^ 

St. Augustine, who lived in the beginning of the 
fifth century, relates that when his mother was at 
the point of death, she made this last request of 
him : " Lay this body anywhere ; let not the care 
of it any way disturb you. This only I request of 

1 See Faith of Catholics, Vol. Ill, p. 176. 

» Ibid., p. 177. 3 it,id.^ Vol. II. 



n2 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHFJRS. 

you, that you would remember me at the altar of 
the Lord, wherever you be/' 

And that pious son prays for his mother's soul iu 
the most impassioned language : " I, therefore," he 
says, " O God of my heart, do now beseech Thee for 
the sins of my mother. Hear me through the medi- 
cine of the wounds that hung upon the wood 

May she then be in peace with her husband 

And inspire, my Lord, .... Thy servants, my breth- 
ren, whom with voice and heart and pen I serve, 
that as many as shall read these words may remem- 
ber at Thy altar, Monica, Thy servant " ^ 

These are but a few specimens of the unanimous 
voice of the Fathers regarding the salutary practice 
of praying for the dead. 

You now perceive that this devotion is not an in- 
vention of modern times, but a doctrine universally 
enforced in the first and purest ages of the Church. 

You see that praying for the dead was not a de- 
votion cautiously recommended by some obscure or 
visionary writer, but an act of religion preached and 
inculcated by all the great Doctors and Fathers of 
the Church, who are the recognized expounders of 
the Christian religion. 

You see them, too, inculcating this doctrine not as 
a cold and abstract principle, but as an imperative 
a«3t of daily piety, and embodying it in their ordi- 
nary exercises of devotion. 

They prayed for the dead in their morning and 

^ Confessions, Book ix. 



PURGATORY, ETC. 218 

evening devotions. They prayed for them in their 
daily office, and in the sacrifice of the Mass. They 
asked the prayers of the congregation, for the souls 
of the deceased, in the public services of Sunday. 
A.nd on the monuments which were erected to the 
dead, some of which are preserved even to this day, 
epitaphs wei*e inscribed, earnestly invoking for their 
souls the prayers of the living. How gratifying it 
is to our Catholic hearts, that a devotion so soothing 
to afflicted spirits is at the same time so firmly 
grounded on the tradition of ages ! 

4. That the practice of praying for the dead has 
descended from x4.postolic times is also evident from 
the Liturgies of the Church. A Liturgy is the estab- 
iished formulary of public worship, containing the 
authorized prayers of the Church. The Missal, o; 
Mass-book, for instance, which you see on our altars, 
contains a portion of the Liturgy of the Catholic 
Church. The principal Liturgies are, the Liturgy 
of St. James the Apostle, who founded the Church 
of Jerusalem ; the Liturgy of St. Mark the Evange- 
list, founder of the Church of Alexandria, and the 
Liturgy of St. Peter, who established the Church 
in Rome. These Liturgies are called after the 
Apostles who compiled them. There are, besides, the 
Liturgies of St. Chrysostom and St. Basil, which 
arc chiefiy based on the model of that of St. James. 

Now, all these Liturgies, without an exception, 
have prayers for the dead, and their providential 
preservation serves as another triumj»hant vindica 



214 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

tion of the venerable antiquity of this Catholic 
doctrine. 

The Eastern and the Western churches were 
happily united until the fourth and fifth ceutuyies, 
when the heresiarchs Arius, Nestorius, and Eutyches 
withdrew millions of souls from the centre of unity. 
The followers of these sects were called, after their 
founders, Arians, Nestor ians, and Eutychians, and 
from that day to the present the tw^o latter bodies 
ha;Ve formed distinct communions, being separated 
from the Catholic Church in the East, just as the Prot- 
estant churches are separated from her in the West. 

The Greek schismatic church, of which the pres- 
ent Russo-Greek church is the offspring, severed 
her connection with the See of Rome in the ninth 
century. 

But in leaving the Catholic Church, these Eastern 
sects retained the old Liturgies, which they use to 
this day, as I shall presently demonstrate. 

During my sojourn in Rome at the Ecumenical 
Council, I devoted a great deal of my leisure time 
to the examination of the various Liturgies of the 
schismatic churches of the East. I found in all of 
them formulas of prayers for the dead almost 
identical with that of the Roman Missal : " Remem- 
ber, O Lord, Thy servants who are gone before us 
with the sign of faith, and sleep in peace. To these, 
O Lord, and to all who rest in Christ, grant, we 
beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and 
pe? ^, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord." 



PrRGATORY, ETC. 215 

Not content with studying their books, I called 
upon the Oriental Patriarchs and Bishops in com- 
munion with the See of Rome, who belong to the 
Armenian, the Chaldean, the Coptic, the Maronite, 
and Syriac rites. They all assured me that the 
schismatic Christians of the East among whom 
they live, have, w^ithout exception, prayers and 
sacrifices for the dead. 

Now, I ask, when could those Eastern sects have 
commenced to adopt the Catholic practice of pray- 
ing for the dead ? They could not have received it 
from us since the ninth century, because the Greek 
church separated from us then, and has had no 
communion with us since that time, except at inter- 
vals, up to the twelfth century. Nor could they have 
adopted the practice since the fourth or fifth century, 
inasTuuch as the Arians, Nestorians, and Eutychians 
have had no religious communication with us since 
that period. Therefore, in common with us, they 
received this doctrine from the Apostles. If men 
living in different countries drink wine having the 
same flavor and taste and color, the inference is, that 
the wine was made from the same species of grape. 
So must we conclude that this refreshing doctrine of 
intercession for the dead has its root in the Apostolic 
tree of knowledge planted by our Saviour. 

5. I have already spoken of the devotion of tliR 
ancient Jewish church to the souls of the departed. 
But perhaps you are not aware that the Jews retain 
to this day, in their Liturgy, the pious practice of 
praying for the dead. Yet such in reality is the case. 



216 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Amid all their wanderings and vicissitudes of lif^, 
though dismembered and dispersed, like sheep with- 
out a shepherd, over the surface of the globe, the 
children of Israel have never forgotten or neg- 
lected the sacred duty of praying for their de- 
ceased brethren. 

ITnwilling to make this assertion without the 
strongest evidence, I procured from a Jewish con- 
vert an authorized Prayer-Book of the Hebrew 
church, from which I extract the following formula 
of prayers which are prescribed for funerals : " De- 
parted brother ! may est thou find open the gates of 
heaven, and see the city of peace and tlie dwellings 
of safety, and meet the ministering angels hastening 
joyfully toward thee. And may the High Priest 
stand to receive thee, and go thou to the end, rest 
in peace, and rise again into life. May the repose 
established in the. celestial abode ... be the lot, 
i welling, and the resting-place of the soul of our 
deceased brother (whom the spirit of the Lord may 
guide into Paradise) who departed from this world, 
according to the will of God, the Lord of heaven 
and earth. May the supreme King of Kings, 
through His infinite mercy, hide him under the 
shadow of His wings. May He raise him at the 
end of his days, and cause him to drink of the 
stream of His delights.'' ^ 

I am happy to say that the more advanced and 

* Jewish Prayer-Book. Edited by Isaaxj Leeser, published 
by Slote <^ Mooney, Philadelphia. 



PCTRGATORY, ETC. 217 

enlightened members of the Episcopaliau church are 
steadily returning to the faith of their forefathers 
regarding prayers for the dead. An acquaintance 
of mine, once a distinguished clergyman of the 
Episcopal communion, but now a convert, informed 
me that hundreds of Protestant clergymen in this 
country, and particularly in England, have a firm 
belief in the efficacy of prayers for the dead, bul 
for well-known reasons they are reserved in the ex- 
pression of their faith. He easily convinced me of 
the truth of his assertion, particularly as far as the 
church of England is concerned, by sending me six 
different works published in London, all bearing on 
the subject of Purgatory. These books are printed 
under the auspices of the Protestant Episcopal 
church ; they all contain prayers for the dead, and 
prove, from Catholic grounds, the existence of a 
middle state after death, and the duty of praying 
for our deceased brethren.^ 

To sum up : we see the practice of praying for the 
dead enforced in the ancient Hebrew church, and in 
the Jewish synagogue of to-day. We see it pro- 
claimed age after age by all the Fathers of Chris- 
tendom. We see it incorporated in every one of the 
ancient Liturgies of the East and of the West.. We 
see it zealously taught by the Eussian church of to- 
day, and by that immense family of schismatic 
Christians scattered over the East. We behold it, 

^ See Path of Holiness, Rivington's, London Treasury of 
Devotion, Ibid Catechism of Theology, Hasten, London, 
19 



us THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

m fine, a cherished devotion of two hundred millicns 
of Catholics, as well as of a respectable portion of 
the Episcopal church. 

Would it not, my friend, he the height of rash- 
ness and presumption in you to prefer your private 
opinion to this immense weight ol learning, sanctity, 
Rud authority? Would it not be impiety in you to 
stand aside with sealed lips, while the Christian 
world is sending up an unceasing De prcju/idi^ for 
departed brethren ? Would it not be cold and heart- 
less in you not to pray for your deceased friends, on 
account of prejudices which have no grounds in 
Scripture, tradition, or reason itself? 

If a brother leaves you to cross the broad Atlan- 
tic, religion and affection prompt you to pray for 
him during his absence. And if the same brother 
crosses the narrow sea of death to pass to the shores 
of eternity, why not pray for him then also ? When 
he crosses the Atlantic, his soul, imprisoned in the 
flesh, is absent from you ; when he passes the sea 
of death, his soul, released from the ficsh. has gone 
from you. What difference does this make with 
regard to the duty of your intercession ? For, what 
Is death ? A mere separation oi body and soul. 
The body, indeed, dies, but the soul "lives and 
moves and has its being.'" It continues after death, 
as before, to think, to remember, to love. And do 
.Dot God's dominion and mercy extend over that 
■soul beyond the grave as well a.s this side of it ? 
Who shall place limits to God's empire, and say to 



PURGATORY, ETC. 219 

Him; "Thus far Thou shall go and no farther?" 
Two thousand years after Abraham's death, our 
Lord said : " I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac, 
and of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but 
of the living.'' ^ 

If it is profitable for you then to pray for your 
brother in the flesh, why should it be useless foi 
you to pray for him out of the flesh ? For, while 
he was living, you prayed not for his body, but foi 
his soul. 

If this brother of yours dies with some sligh'- 
stains upon his soul, a sin of impatience, for instance 
or an idle word, is he fit to enter heaven witl 
these blemishes upon his soul ? No ; the sanctity oi 
God forbids it, for, " nothing defiled shall enter th* 
kingdom of heaven." ^ Will you consign him, foi 
these minor transgressions, to eternal torments with 
adulterers and murderers? No; the justice and 
mercy of God forbid it. Therefore, your common 
sense demands a middle place of expiation for the 
purgation of the soul before it is worthy of enjoying 
the companionship of God and His saints. 

God " will render to every man according to his 
works," — to the pure and unsullied, everlastinf 
bliss ; to the reprobate, eternal damnation ; to souls 
stained with minor faults, a place of temporary pur- 
gation. 

I have seen a devoted daughter minister with 
tender solicitude at the sick-bed of a fond parent 

1 Mark xii. 26, 27. ^ Apoc. xxi. 27. 



220 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Many an anxious day and sleepless night did she 
watch at his bedside. And she moistened the 
parched lips, and cooled the fevered brow, and 
raised the drooping head on its pillow. Every 
change in her patient for better or worse, brought 
a corresponding sunshine or gloom to her heart. 
It was filial love that prompted all this. Her 
father died, and she followed his remains to the 
grave. Though not a Catholic, standing by the 
bier, she burst those chains which a cruel religious 
prejudice had wrought around her heart, and, rising 
superior to her sect, she cried out : Lord, have mercy 
on his souL It was the voice of nature and of 
religion. 

Oh ! far from us a religion which would decree 
an eternal divorce between the living and the dead. 
How consoling is it to the Catholic, to think that, 
in praying thus for his departed friend, his prayers 
are not in violation of, but in accordance with, the 
voice of the Church ; and that as, like Augustine, he 
watches at the pillow of a dying mother, so, like 
Augustine, he can continue the same office of piety 
for her soul after she is dead, by praying for her. 
How cheering the reflection that the golden link of 
prayer unites you still to those who " fell asleep in 
the Lord,'' and that you can still speak to them 
anc pray for them ! 

Tennyson grasps the Catholic feeling, when he 
makes his hero, whose course is run, thus address his 
eurviving comrade, Sir Bedivere : 



CIVIL AXD RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 22 

**! have lived ray life, and that which I have done 
May He within Himself make pure ; but thou. 
If thou shouldst never see my face again, 
Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer 
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice 
Rise like a fountain for me night and day. 
For what are men better than sheep or goats 
That nourish a blind life within the brain, 
If, knowing Gfod, they lift not hands of prayer 
Both for themselves and those who call them friend ? 
For so the whole round earth is every way 
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God." ^ 

Oh ! it is this thought that robs death of its sting 
and makes the separation of friends endurable. 
And if your departed friend needs not your 
prayers, they are not lost, but, like the rain ab- 
sorbed by the sun, and descending again in fruitful 
showers on our fields, they will be gathered by the 
Sun of justice, and they will come down in refresh- 
ing showers of grace upon your head : " Cast thy 
bread upon the running waters ; for, after a long 
time, thou shalt find it again." ^ 



CHAPTER XVI. 

CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 

A MAN enjoys religious liberty when he possesses 
the free right of worshiping God according to 
the dictates of a right conscience, and of practising 

^ Morte D' Arthur. * Eccles. xi. 1. 

19-^ ' 



222 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

a form of religion most in accordance with liis duties 
to God. Every act infringing on his freedom of 
conscience is justly styled religious intolerance. 
This religious liberty is the true right of every man, 
because it corresponds with, a most certain duty 
which God has put upon him. 

A man enjoys civil liberty when he is exempt 
from the arbitrary will of others, and when he is 
governed by equitable laws established for the 
general welfare of society. So long as, in common 
with his fellow-citizens, he observes the laws of the 
state, any exceptional restraint imposed upon him, 
in the exercise of his rights as a citizen, is so far 
an infringement on his civil liberty. 

I here assert the proposition, which I hope to 
confirm by historical evidence, that the Catholic 
Church has always been the zealous promoter of 
religious and civil liberty ; and that whenever any 
encroachments on these sacred rights of man were 
perpetrated by professing members of the Catholic 
faith, these wrongs, far from being sanctioned by 
the Church, were committed in palpable violation 
of her authority. 

Her doctrine is, that as man by his own free will 
fell from grace, so of his own free will must he re- 
turn to grace. Conversion and coercion are two 
terms that can never be reconciled. It has ever 
been a cardinal maxim, inculcated by sovereign 
Pontiffs and other Prelates, that no violence or 
undue influence should be exercised by Christian 



CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 223 

PriDces or Missionaries in their efforts to convert 
souls to the faith of Jesus Christ. 

St. Augustine and his companions, who were sent 
by Pope Gregory I. to England for the conversion 
of that nation, had the happiness of baptizing in the 
true faith King Ethelbert and many of his sub- 
jects. That monarch, in the fervor of his zeal, was 
most anxious that all his subjects should immediately 
follow his example ; but the missionaries admonished 
him that he should scrupulously abstain from all 
violence in the conversion of his people; for, the 
Christian religion should be voluntarily embraced. 

Pope Nicholas I. also warned Michael, king of 
the Bulgarians, against employing any force or con- 
straint in the conversion of idolaters. 

The fourth Council of Toledo, a synod of great 
authority in the Church, ordained that no one should 
be compelled against his will to make a profession 
of the Christian faith. And be it remembered that 
this Council was composed of all the Bishops of 
Spain ; and was assembled in a country and at a 
time in which the Church held almost unlimited 
sway, and among a people who have been repre- 
sented as the most fanatical and intolerant of all 
Europe. 

Perhaps no man can be considered a fairer repre- 
sentative of the age in which he lived than St. 
Bernard, the illustrious Abbot of Clairvaux. He 
was the embodiment of the spirit of the Middle 
Ages. His life is the key that discloses tc us 



224 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

what degree of toleration prevailed in those days. 
Having heard that a fanatical preacher was stimu- 
lating the people to deeds of violence agaiDst the 
Jews, as the enemies of Christianity, St. Bernard 
raised his eloquent voice against him, awd rescued 
those persecuted people from the danger to which 
they were exposed. 

Not to cite too many examples, let me only quote 
for you the beautiful letter addressed by Fenelon, 
A^rchbishop of Cambray, to the son of King James 
11. of England. This letter not only reflects the 
sentiments of his own heart, but formulizes, in this 
particular, the decrees of the Church, of which he 
was a distinguished ornament. "Above all,'* he 
writes, " never force your subjects to change their 
religion. No human power can reach the impene- 
trable recess of the free will of the heart. Violence 
can never persuade men : it serves only to make 
hypocrites. Grant civil liberty to all, not in ap- 
proving everything as indifferent, but in tolerating 
with patience whatever Almighty Grod tolerates, 
and endeavoring to convert men by mild per- 
suasion." ^ 

It is true, indeed, that the Catholic Church spares 
no pains, and stops at no sacrifice, in order to induce 
mankind to embrace her faith. Otherwise she would 
be recreant to her sacred mission. But she scorns 
to exercise any undue influence in her efforts to con- 
vert souls. 

* Vie de Fenelon. 



CIVIL A^^D RELIGIOUS LIBEBTY. 225 

It ia well known that the superior advantages of 
our female academies throughout the country lead 
many of our dissenting brethren to send their daugh- 
ters to these institutions. It is also well known that 
so w-arm is the affection which these young ladies 
entertain for their religious teachers ; so hallow^ed is 
the atmosphere they breathe within these seats of 
learning, that they often beg to embrace a religion 
which fosters so much piety, and which produces 
such pure and fragrant lilies. Do the sisters take 
advantage of this influence in the cause of prose- 
lytism ? By no means. So delicate is their regard 
for the religious conscience of their pupils, that they 
rarely consent to have these young ladies baptized 
till they have obtained the free permission of their 
parents or guardians, after being thoroughly in- 
structed in all the doctrines of the Church. 

The Church is, indeed, intolerant in this sense, 
that she can never confound truth with error ; nor 
can she admit that any man is conscientiously free 
to reject the truth w^hen its claims are convincingly 
brought home to the mind. Many Protestants 
seem to be very much disturbed by some such ar- 
gument as this : Catholics are very ready now to 
proclaim freedom of conscience, because they are 
in the minority. When they once succeed in get- 
ting the upper hand in numbers and power, they 
will destroy this freedom, because their faith teaches 
them to tolerate no doctrine other than the Catholic. 
It LB, then, a matter of absolute necessity for us that 

P 



226 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

they should never be allowed to get this advan- 
tage. 

Now, in all this, there is a great mistake, which 
comes from not knowing the Catholic doctrine in its 
fulness. I shall not lay it down myself, lest it seem 
te have been gotten up for the occasion. I sliall 
quote the great theologian Becanus, who taught the 
doctrine of the schools of Catholic Theology at the 
time when the struggle was hottest between Ca- 
tholicity and Protestantism. He says that religious 
liberty may be tolerated by a ruler when it would 
do more harm to the state or to the community to 
repress it. The ruler may even enter into a com- 
pact in order to secure to his subjects this freedom 
in religious matters ; and when once a compact is 
made, it must absolutely be observed in every point, 
just as every other lawful and honest contract.^ 
This is the true Catholic teaching on this point, ac- 
cording to Becanus and all Catholic theologians. So 
that if Catholics should gain the majority in a com- 
munity where freedom of conscience is already se- 
cured to all by law, their very religion obliges them 
to respect the rights thus acquired by their fellow- 
citizens. What danger can there be, then, for Pro- 
testants, if Catholics should be in the majority here? 
Their apprehensions are the result of vain fears, 
which no honest mind ought any longer to harbor. 

The Church has not only respected the conscience 
of the people in embracing the religion of their 

^ Becanus de Virtutibus Theologicis, c. 16, quaest. 4, No. 2- 



CIVIL AND RELKSIOUS LIBERTY. 227 

choice, but slie has also defended their dvil rights 
and liberties against the encroachments of temporal 
sovereigns. One of the popular errors that have 
taken possession of some minds in our times, is that 
in former days the Church was leagued with princes, 
for the oppression of the people. This is a base 
calumny, which a slight acquaintance with eccle 
siastical history would soon dispel. 

The truth is, the most unrelenting enemies of thy. 
Church have been the princes of this world, and so 
called Christian princes, too. 

The conflict between Church and State has nevei 
died out, because the Church has felt it to be hei 
duty, in every age, to raise her voice against the 
despotic and arbitrary measures of princes. And 
as a Protestant American reviewer^ well said, 
about forty years ago, it was a blessing of Provi- 
dence that there was a spiritual Power on earth 
that could stand like a wall of brass against the 
tyranny of earthly sovereigns, and say to them : 
" Thus far you shall go, and no farther, and hern 
you shall break your swelling waves '' of passion 
a Power that could say to them what John said 
to Herod : "This thing is not lawful for thee ; " a 
Power that pointed the finger of reproof to them, 
even when the sword was pointed to her own neck, 
and that said to them what Nathan said to David ; 
" Thou art the man." She told princes that if 
the people have their obligations, they have their 

^ Dr. Brownson, who was then a Protestant. 



228 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

rights, too ; that if the subject must render to Caesar 
the things that are Csesar's, Caesar must render to 
God the things that are God's. 

Yes ; the Church, while pursuing her divine mis- 
sion of leading souls to God, has ever been the de- 
fender of the people's rights. 

St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, affords us a 
striking instance of the strenuous efforts made by 
the Catholic Church in vindicating the interests of 
the citizen^ against the oppression of rulers. 

A portion of the people of Thessalonica had com- 
mitted an outrage against the just authority of the 
Emperor Theodosius. The offence of those citizens 
was indeed most reprehensible ; but the Emperor 
requited the insult offered to him by a shocking 
and disproportioned act of retribution, which has 
left an indelible stain upon his otherwise excellent 
character. The inhabitants were assembled together 
for the ostensible purpose of witnessing a chariot- 
race ; and at a given signal the soldiery fell upon 
the people, and involved men, women, and chil- 
dren in an indiscriminate massacre, to the number 
of about seven thousand. Some time after, the 
Emperor presented himself at the Cathedral of 
Milan ; but the intrepid Prelate told him that hi^ 
hands were dripping with the blood of his subjects, 
and forbade him entrance to the church till he had 
made all the reparation in his power to the afflicted 
people of Thessalonica. 

People affect to be shocked at the sentence of ^x- 



CIVIL AXD RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 229 

communication occasionally inflicted by the Church 
on evil-doers. Here is an instance of this penalty. 
Who can complain of it as being too severe ? It 
wiis a salutary punishment, and the only one that 
could bring rulers to a sense of duty. 

The greatest bulwark of civil liberty is the famou? 
Magna Charta. It is the foundation not only of 
British, but also of American constitutional free- 
dom. Among other blessings contained in this in- 
strument, it establishes trial by jury, and the right 
of Habeas Corpus, and provides that there shall be 
no taxation without representation. 

Who were the framers of this memorable charter? 
Archbishop Langton, of Canterbury, and the Cath- 
olic Barons of England. On the plains of Runny- 
mede, in 1215, they compelled King John to sign 
that paper which was the death-blow to his arbi- 
trary power, and the corner-stone of constitutional 
government. 

Turning to our own country, it is with no small 
degree of satisfaction that I point to the State of 
Maryland as the cradle of civil and religious liberty, 
and the "land of the sanctuary." Of the thirteen 
original American Colonies, Maryland was the only 
one that was settled by Catholics. She was also the 
only one that spread aloft over her fair lands the 
banner of liberty of conscience, and that invited the 
oppressed of other Colonies to seek an asylum be- 
neath its shadow. 

Lest I should be suspected of being too partial >*j 
20 



230 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

my praise of Maryland toleration, I shall take all 
my historical facts from Bancroft, a New England 
Protestant clergyman. 

Leonard Calvert, the brother of Lord Baltimore, 
and the leader of the Catholic colony, having sailed 
from England in the Ark and the Dove, reached his 
destination on the Potomac in March, 1634. 

" The Catholics took quiet possession of the little 
place, and religious liberty obtained a home, its only 
home in the wide world, at the humble village which 
bore the name of St. Mary's." ^ 

" The foundation of the colony of Maryland was 
peacefully and happily laid. Within six months, 
it had advanced more than Virginia had done in as 
many years. . . . But far more memorable was the 
character of the Maryland institutions. Every other 
country in the world had persecuting laws ; but 
through the benign administration of the govern- 
ment of that province, no person professing to be- 
lieve in Jesus Christ was permitted to be molested 
on account of religion. Under the munificence 
and superintending mildness of Lord Baltimore, 
a dreary wilderness was soon quickened with the 
swarming life and activity of prosperous settle- 
ments ; the Roman Catholics who were oppressed 
by the laws of England were sure to find a peaceful 
asylum in the quiet harbors of the Chesapeake ; and 
there, too, Protestants were sheltered against Protestant 
intolerance. Such were the beautiful auspices under 

* Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. 1., eh. vii. 



ilil 



CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 231 

which Maryland started into being. ... Its history is 
the history of benevolence, f;ratitude,and toleration."^ 

" Maryland was the abode of happiness and lib- 
erty. Conscience was without restraint. A mild 
and liberal proprietary conceded every measure 
which the welfare of the colony required ; domestic 
union, a happy concert between all the branches of 
government, an increasing emigration, a productive 
commerce, a fertile soil, which heaven had richly 
favored with rivers and deep bays, united to perfect 
the scene of colonial felicity. Ever intent on ad- 
vancing the interests of his colony. Lord Baltimore 
invited the Puritans of Massachusetts to emigrate to 
Maryland, offering them lands and privileges and 
free liberty of religion ; but Gibbons, to whom he 
had forwarded the commission, was so wholly tutored 
in the New England discipline, that he would not 
advance the wishes of the Irish Peer, and so the in- 
vitation was declined." ^ 

On the 2d of April, 1649, the General Assembly 
of Maryland passed the following Act, which will re- 
flect unfading glory on that State as long as liberty 
is cherished in the hearts of men : " Whereas the 
enforcing of conscience in matters of religion hath 
frequently fallen out to be of dangerous consequence 
in those commonwealths where it has been practised, 
and for the more quiet and peaceable government 
of this province, and the better to preserve mutual 
love and unity amongst the inhabitants, no person 

1 Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. I., ch. vii. 



232 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

whatsoever within this province, professing to believe 
in Jesus Christ, shall from henceforth be anyways 
troubled or molested for his or her religion, nor in 
tlie free exercise thereof, nor any way compelled to 
the belief or exercise of any other religion against 
his or her (Consent." ^ 

Upon this noble statute, Bancroft makes the fol- 
lowing candid and judicious comment : " The design 
of the law of Maryland was to protect freedom of 
conscience ; and some years after it had been con- 
firmed, the apologist of Lord Baltimore could assert 
that his government had never given disturbance to 
any person in Maryland for matter of religion ; that 
the colonists enjoyed freedom of conscience, not less 
than freedom of person and estate, as amply as ever 
any people in any place of the world. The disfran- 
chised friends of Prelacy from Massachusetts and 
the Puritans from Virginia were welcomed to equal 
liberty of conscience and political rights in the 
Roman Catholic province of Maryland." ^ 

Five years later, when the Puritans gained the 
ascendancy in Maryland, they were guilty of the in- 
famous ingratitude of disfranchising the very Cath- 
olic settlers by whom they had been so hospitably 
entertained. They " had neither the gratitude to 
respect the rights of the government by which they 
had been received and fostered, nor magnanimity 
to continue the toleration to which alone they were 

^ Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. I., ch. viL 
Vide Bacon's Laws. ^ Ibid. 



CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERT if. 233 

indebted for their residence in the colony. An Act 
concerning religion, forbade liberty of conscience to 
be extended to * Popery/ * Prelacy/ or * licentiousness 
of opinion/ " ^ 

What shall I say of the prominent part that waa 
taken by distinguished representatives of the Cath- 
olic Church in the cause of our American Indepen- 
dence? What shall I say of Charles Carroll of 
Carrollton, who, at the risk of sacrificing his rich 
estates, signed the Declaration of Independence ; of 
Rev. John Carroll, afterwards the first Archbishop 
of Baltimore, who, with his cousin Charles Carroll 
and Benjamin Franklin, was sent by Congress to 
Canada to secure the co-operation of the people of 
that province in the struggle for liberty ; of Kos- 
ciusko, Lafayette, Pulaski, and Barry, and a host 
of other Catholic heroes who labored so effectually 
in the same glorious cause? American patriots 
without number the Church has nursed in her 
bosom ; a traitor, never. 

The father of his country was not unmindful of 
these services. Shortly after his election to the 
Presidency, replying to an address of his Catholic 
fellow-citizens, he uses the following language : " I 
presume that your fellow-citizens will not forget the 
patriotic part which you took in the accomplishmem 
of their revolution, and the establishment of their 
government; or the important assistance they re- 

^ Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. I., ch. rii. 
Vide Bacon's Laws. 
20* 



234 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

ceived from a nation in which the Roman Catholic 
faith is professed." 

And the Catholics of our generation have nobly 
emulated the patriotism and the spirit of toleration 
exhibited by their ancestors. They can neither be 
accused of disloyalty or of intolerance to their dis- 
senting brethren. In more than one instance of our 
nation's history, our churches have been desecrated 
and burned to the ground ; our convents have been 
invaded and destroyed ; our clergy have been ex- 
posed to insult and violence. These injuries have 
been inflicted on us by incendiary mobs animated 
by hatred of Catholicism. Yet, in spite of these 
provocations, our Catholic citizens, though wielding 
an immense numerical influence in the localities 
where they suffered, have never retaliated. It is in 
a spirit of just pride that we can affirm that hither- 
to in the United States no Protestant house of wor- 
ship or educational institution has been destroyed, 
nor violence offered to a Protestant minister, by 
those who profess the Catholic faith. God grant 
that such may always be our record. 

And it is just because the Church has ever resisted 
the tyranny of kings, in their encroachments on the 
sacred right of conscience, that she has always been 
the victim of royal persecution. In every age, in the 
language of the Psalmist, " the kings of the earth 
rose up, and the princes assembled together against 
the Lord and against His Christ." ^ The brightest 

iPs. ii. 



CIVIL AND EELIGIOUS LIBERTY. ^85 

and most thrilling pages of ecclesiastical history 
are those which record the sufferings of Popes and 
Prelates, at the hands of temporal sovereigns, for 
conscience' and for justice' sake. 

Take, for instance, St. John Chrysostom, the great 
Archbishop of Constantinople in the fifth century, 
and the idol of the people. He had the courage, 
like John the Baptist, to raise his eloquent voicfe 
against the lasciviousness of the court, and partic- 
ularly against the Empress Eudoxia, who ruled like 
another Jezabel. He was banished from his See, 
treated with the utmost indignity by the soldiers, 
and died in exile from sheer exhaustion and ill 
treatment. 

Witness Pope Gregory VII., the fearless Hilde- 
brand, in his life-long struggle with the German Em- 
peror, Henry IV. Gregory directed all the energies 
of his great mind towards reforming the abuses which 
had crept into the church of France and Germany in 
the eleventh century. The Emperor of Germany, 
in those days, assumed the right of naming or ap- 
pointing the Bishops throughout his empire. This 
eacred office was commonly bestowed on very un- 
worthy candidates, and very often put up at auc- 
tion, to be sold to the highest bidder, as is now the 
case with the schismatic Greek church in Turkey. 

These Bishops too often repaid their imperial ben- 
efector by pandering to his passions, and by the 
most servile flattery. The intrepid Pope partially 
succeeded in uprooting the evil, though the effort 



236 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

cost him his life. The Emperor invaded Rome, 
drove Gregory from his See, who died uttering 
these words with his last breath : " I have loved 
justice and hated iniquity, and therefore I die in 
exile/' 

For the same cause, Thomas a Becket, Archbishop 
of Canterbury, was slain at the altar by the hired 
assassins of Henry II., of England. 

And observe how Pius VII. was treated by the 
first Napoleon in the beginning of the present cen- 
tury. The day-dream of Napoleon was to be master 
of Europe, and to place his brothers and friends on 
the thrones of the continent, that they might re- 
volve, like so many satellites, around his throne in 
France. Napoleon makes two demands on the 
venerable Pontiff: 1. That he dissolve the marriage 
which had been contracted between the Emperor's 
brother, Jerome, and Miss Patterson, of Baltimore. 
His ostensible reason for having the marriage dis- 
solved was because Miss Patterson was a Protestant ; 
but his real motive was to secure a royal bride for 
his brother instead of an American lady. 2. That 
he close his ports against the commerce of England, 
with which nation Napoleon was then at war. The 
pDpe rejected both demands. He told the Emperor 
that the Church held all marriages performed by 
her as indissoluble, even when one of the parties 
was not a Catholic ; and that, as the common father 
of Christendom, he could close his port against 
no Christian power. For refusing to comply 



CIVIL Ain? RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 287 

with Bonaparte's demands, the Pope was ar- 
rested and sent into exile, where he lingered for 
years. 

And at this very moment the old conflict between 
the Church and despotic governitit^nts is raging 
fiercely throughout Europe. The scene enacted 
by John and Herod is to-day reproduced in al- 
jnost every kingdom of the ©Id world. It is the 
old fight between brute force and the God-given 
rights of conscience. 

In Russia we see the Bishop of Block exiled for 
life, from his See, to Siberia. His only oflfence is 
his refusal to acknowledge that the Emperor Alex- 
ander is the head of the Christian Cliurch. 

If we pftss over into Italy, we see religious men 
and women driven from their homes ; their houses 
and libraries confiscated — libraries which pious and 
learned men had been collecting and consulting for 
ages. The only crime of those religious is that they 
have not the power to resist brute force. 

Cross the Alps into France, and there you will 
see that many-headed monster the Commune, assas- 
sinating the Archbishop of Paris and his clergy, 
solely because he and they were the representa- 
tives of law and order. 

In the so-called Republic of Switzerland, Bishop 
Mermillod is expelled from Geneva without the 
slightest charge adduced against his character as 
a citizen and a Christian Prelate. Faithful cler- 
gymen are deprived by the government of their 



238 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

parochial rights, and renegade priests are intruded 
in their place. The shepherd is driven away, and 
wolves lay waste the fold. 

Go to Prussia: what do you behold there? A 
Prime Minister flushed with his recent victories 
ever France. He is not content with seeing his 
master wear the imperial crown of Germany ; he 
wants him also to wear the tiara of the Pope. Like 
Aman, the minister of King Assuerus, Bismarck is 
not satisfied with being second in the kingdom so 
long SLS Mardochai, that is the Church, refuses to 
bow down and worship him. 

He fines the venerable Archbishop of Gnesen- 
Posen and other Prussian Prelates again and 
again, sells their furniture, and finally sfeuds them 
to prison for a protracted period. St. John Chry- 
sostom beautifully remarks that St. Paul, elevated 
to the third heaven, was glorious to contemplate; 
but that far more glorious is Paul buried in the 
dungeons of Rome. I can say in like manner, of 
Archbishop Ledochowski of Posen, that he was con- 
spicuous in the Vatican Council among his peers ; 
but he was still more conspicuous sitting solitary in 
his Prussian prison. 

The loyalty of the Prussian clergy is above re- 
proach. The Bishops are imprisoned because they 
insist on the right of educating students for the 
ministry, ordaining and appointing clergy, without 
consulting the government. They are denied a right 
which in this country is possessed by Free Masons, 
and every other human organization in the land. 



CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 239 

Perhaps a simple illustration will present to you 
in a clearer light the odious character of the penal 
laws to which I have alluded. Suppose the govern- 
ment of the United States were to issue a general 
order requiring the clergy of the various Christian 
denominations to be educated in government estab- 
lishments, and forcing them to take an oath before 
entering on the duties of the ministry ; forbidding, 
also, the ecclesiastical authorities to appoint or re- 
move any clergyman without permission of the 
civil power at Washington. Would not the Ameri- 
can people rise up in their might, before they would 
submit to have such galling fetters forged on their 
conscience? And yet this is precisely the odious 
legislation which the Prussian government is enact- 
ing against the Church. And the Catholic Church, 
in resisting these laws, is not only fighting her own 
battles, but she is contending for the principle of 
freedom of conscience everywhere. 

But, thank God, we live in a country where liberty 
of conscience is respected, and where the civil con- 
stitution holds over us the segis of her protection, 
without intermeddling with ecclesiastical affairs. 
From my heart, I say: America, with all thy 
faults, I love thee still. And perhaps at this 
moment there is no nation on the face of the earth 
where the Church is less trammeled, and where she 
has more liberty to carry out her sublime destiny, 
than in these United States. 

For my part, I much prefer the system which 



240 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

prevails in this country, where the temporal needs 
of the Church are supplied by voluntary contribu- 
tions of the faithful, to the system which obtains in 
some Catholic countries of Europe, where the Church 
is supported by the government, thereby making 
feeble reparation for the gross injustice it has done 
CO the Church, by its former wholesale confiscation 
of ecclesiastical property. And the Church pays 
dearly for this indemnity ; for she has to bear the 
perpetual attempts at interference and the vexatious 
enactments of the civil power, which aims at making 
her wholly dependent upon itself 

Some years ago, in company with the late Arch- 
bishop Spalding, on my return from Rome, I paid a 
visit to the Bishop of Annecy, in Savoy. I was 
struck by the splendor of his palace, and saw a 
sentinel at the door, placed there by the French 
government, as a guard of honor. But the vener- 
able Bishop soon disabused me of my favorable im- 
pressions. He told me that he was in a state of 
gilded slavery. I cannot, said he, build as much 
is a sacristy without obtaining permission of the 
jjovernment. 

I do not wish to see the day when the Church will 
mvoke or receive any government aid to build our 
churches, or to pay the salary of our clergy ; for, 
the government may then begin to dictate to us 
what doctrines we ought to preach. And in pro- 
portion as state patronage would increase, the sym- 
pathy and aid of the faithful would diminish. 



RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 241 

May the happy condition of things now existing 
among us always continue, when the relations be- 
tween the clergy and the people will be direct and 
immediate: when Bishops and Priests will bestow 
upon their spiritual children their voluntary labors, 
their tender solicitude, their paternal affection, and 
pour out like water their hearts' blood, if necessary ; 
and when they will receive in return the free-wilJ 
offerings, — the devotion and gratitude of a filial 
people. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

CHARGES OF RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 

THE SPANISH INQUISITION — THE MASSACRE OF ST. -BaR- 
THOLOMEW — QUEEN MARY OF ENGLAND. 

I. 

BUT did not the Spanish Inquisicion exercise enor- 
mous cruelties against heretics and Jews? I am 
not the apologist of the Spanish Inquisition, and I 
have no desire to palliate or excuse the excesses into 
which that tribunal may at times have fallen. From 
my heart I abhor and denounce every species of vio- 
lence, and injustice, and persecution of which the 
c^panish Inquisition may have been guilty. And in 
raising my voice against coercion for conscience' sake. 
I am ex])ressing not only my own sentiments, but 
those of every Catholic Priest and layman in the land 
21 Q 



242 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Our Catholic ancestors, for the last three hundred 
years, have suffered so much for freedom of con- 
science, that they would rise up in judgment against 
us, were we to become the advocates and defenders 
of religious persecution. We would be a disgrace 
to our sires, were we to trample on the principle of 
liberty which they held dearer than life. 

And when I denounce the cruelties of the Inqui- 
sition, I am not standing aloof from the Church, but 
I am treading in her footprints. Bloodshed and 
persecution form no part of the creed of the Cath- 
olic Church. So much does she abhor the shedding 
of blood, that a man becomes disqualified to serve 
as a minister at her altars who, by act or counsel, 
voluntarily sheds the blood of another. Before you 
can convict the Church of intolerance, you must first 
bring forward some authentic act of her Popes or 
Councils sanctioning the policy of vengeance. In 
all my readings, I have yet to find one decree of 
hers advocating torture or death for conscience' 
sake. She is indeed intolerant of error; but her 
only weapons against error are those pointed out 
by St. Paul to Timothy: "Preach the word; be 
instant in season, out of season ; reprove, entreat ; 
rebuke with all patience and doctrine.'' ^ 

But you will tell me : Were not the authors ol 
the Inquisition children of the Church, and did 
they not exercise their enormities in her name? 
Granted. But I ask you : Is it just or fair to hold 

1 II. Tim. iv. 2. 



BELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 243 

the Church responsible for those acts of her children 
which she disowns ? You do not denounce liberty 
as a mockery, because many crimes are committed 
in her name ; neither do you hold a father account- 
able for the sins of his disobedient children. 

We should also bear in mind that the Spaniards 
were not the only people who have proscribed men 
for the exercise of their religious belief. If we 
calmly study the history of other nations, our en- 
mity towards Spain will considerably relax, and 
we shall have to reserve for her neighbors a por- 
tion of our indignation. No impartial student of 
history will deny that the leaders of the Reformed 
religions, whenever they gained the ascendancy, ex- 
ercised violence towards those who differed from 
them in faith. I mention this not by way of re- 
crimination, nor in palliation of the proscriptions 
of the Spanish government ; for one offence is not 
justified by another. My object is merely to show 
that *' those who live in glass houses should not 
throw stones ; " and that it is not honest to make 
Spain the scapegoat, bearing alone on her shoulders 
the odium of religious intolerance. 

It should not be forgotten that John Calvin 
burned Michael Servetus at the stake for heresy; 
and the arch-reformer not only avowed but also 
justified the deed in his writings, and established 
in Geneva an Inquisition for the punishment of 
refractory Christians. 

It should also be remembered that Luther ad- 



244 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

vocated the most merciless doctrine towards the 
Jews. According to his apologist Seckendorf, the 
German Reformer said that their synagogues ought 
to be destroyed, their houses pulled down, their 
prayer-books, and even the books of the Old Testa- 
ment, to be taken from them. Their rabbis ought 
to be forbidden to teach, and be compelled to gain 
their livelihood by hard labor. 

It should also be borne in mind that Henry VIII. 
and his successors for many generations, inflicted 
fines, imprisonment, and death on thousands of their 
subjects for denying the spiritual supremacy of the 
temporal sovereign. This galling Inquisition lasted 
for nearly three hundred years, and the severity 
of its decrees scarcely finds a parallel in the Span- 
ish Inquisition. Prescott avows that the adminis- 
tration of Elizabeth was "not a whit less despotic, 
and scarcely less sanguinary than " ^ that of Isabella. 
The clergy of Ireland, under Cromwell, were ordered, 
under pain of death, to quit their country, and theo- 
logical students were obliged to pursue their studies 
in foreign seminaries. Any Priest who dared to re- 
turn to his native country forfeited his life. Who- 
ever harbored a Priest suffered death, and those who 
knew his hiding-place, and did not reveal it to the 
Inquisitors, had both their ears cut off. 

At this very moment, not only in England, but in 
Ireland, Scotland, and Holland, Protestants are wor- 
shiping in some of the churches erected by the 

i Ferdinand and Isabella, Vol. III., p. 202. 



RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION, 245 

piety of our Catholic forefathers, and wrested from 
them by violence. 

Observe, also, that in all these instances the per- 
secutions were inflicted by the express author Uy of 
{he founders and heads of Protestant churches. 

The Puritans of New England inflicted summary 
vengeance on those who were rash enough to difler 
from them in religion. In Massachusetts, *' the 
Quakers were whipped, branded, had their ears cut 
off, their tongues bored with hot irons, and were 
banished upon the pain of death in case of their re- 
turn, and actually executed upon the gallows."* 
And who is ignorant of the number of innocent 
creatures that suffered death in the same State on 
the ridiculous charge of witchcraft towards the end 
•)f the seventeenth century? Well does it become 
their descendants to taunt Catholics with the horrors 
of the Spanish Inquisition ! 

In the religious riots of Philadelphia in 1844, 
several Catholic churches were burned down in the 
name of Protestantism, and houses were sacked. I 
was informed by an eye-witness, that owners of 
houses were obliged to mark on their doors these 
words, this house belongs to Protestants, in order to 
save their property from the infuriated incendiaries. 
For these acts, I never heard of any retaliation 3n 
the part of Catholics, and I hope I never shall, no 
matter how formidable may be their numbers and 
tempting the provocation. 

^ Blue Laws. 
21* 



246 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

And in spite of the boasted toleration of our 
times, it cannot be denied that there still lurks a 
spirit of inquisition, which does not, indeed, vent it- 
self in physical violence, but is, nevertheless, most 
galling to its victims. How many persons have 1 
met in the course of my ministry, who were ostra- 
cized by their kindred and friends, driven from home, 
nay, disinherited by their parents, for the sole crime 
of carrying out the very shibboleth of Protestantism 
— the exercise of private judgment, and of obeying 
the dictates of their conscience, by embracing the 
Catholic faith ! Is not this the most exquisite tor- 
ture that can be inflicted on refined natures ? 

Ah ! there is an imprisonment more lonely than 
the dungeon ; it is the imprisonment of our most 
cherished thoughts in our own hearts, without a 
member of the family to communicate with. 

There is a sword more keen than the executioner's 
knife ; it is the envenomed tongue of obloquy and 
abuse. There is a banishment less tolerable than 
exile from one's country ; it is the excommunication 
from the paternal roof, and from the affections of 
those we love. 

Have I a right to hold the members of the Epis- 
copal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist 
fhurches responsible for these prescriptive measures 
to which I have referred, most of which have been 
nuthorized by their respective founders and leaders? 
God forbid ! For I know full well that these acts of 
cruelty form no part of the creed of the Protestant 



RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 247 

churches. I have been acquainted with Protestants 
from my youth. They have been among my most 
intimate and cherished friends, and, from my knowl- 
edge of them, I am convinced that they would dis- 
countenance any physical violence which would be 
inflicted on their fellow-citizens on account of their 
religious convictions. They would justly tell me 
that the persecutions of former years of which I 
have spoken, should be ascribed to the peculiar and 
unhappy state of society in which their ancestors 
lived, rather than to the inherent principles of their 
religion. 

And for precisely the same reasons, and for reasons 
still more forcible, Protestants should not reproach 
the Catholic Church for the atrocities of the F^panish 
Inquisition. For, the persecutions to which I have 
alluded, were for the most part perpetrated by the 
founders and heads of the Protestant churches •. while 
the rigors of the Spanish tribunal were inflic<:ed by 
laymen and subordinate ecclesiastics, either with- 
out the knowledge or in spite of the protests of the 
Bishops of Rome. 

Let us now present the Inquisition in its true 
light. In the first place, the number of its victims 
has been wildly exaggerated, as even Prescott is 
forced to admit. The popular historian of the 
Inquisition is Llorente, from whom our American 
authors generally derive their information on this 
subject. Now who was Llorente? He was a de- 
graded Priest, who was dismissed from the B^ard 



248 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

of Inquisitors, of which he had been Secretary. 
Actuated by interest and revenge, he wrote his his- 
tory at the instance of Joseph Bonaparte, the new 
King of Spain, and, to please his royal master, he 
did air he could to blacken the character of that 
institution. His testimony, therefore, should be re- 
ceived with great reserve. To give you one instance 
of his unreliability, he quotes the historian Mariana 
as his authority for saying that two thousand persons 
were put to death in one year in the dioceses alone 
of Seville and Cadiz. By referring to the pages of 
Mariana, we find that author saying that two thou- 
sand were put to death in all Spain during the e7itire 
administration of Torqueniada, which embraced a period 
of fifteen years. 

Before beginning to examine the character of this 
tribunal, it must be clearly understood that the 
Spanish Inquisition was not a purely ecclesiastical 
institution, but a mixed tribunal. It was conceived 
systematized, regulated in all its procedures and 
judgments, equipped with officers and powers, and 
its executions, fines, and confiscations were carried 
out by the royal authority alone, and not by the 
Church.^ 

To understand the true character of the Spanish 
Inquisition, and the motives which prompted King 
Ferdinand in establishing that tribunal, we must 

^ For an impartial account of the Inquisition, the reader 
is referred to the " Letters on the Spanish Inquisition," bj 
the Count de Maistre. 



i^i 



RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 249 

take a glance at the internal condition of Spain at 
the close of the fifteenth century. After a struggle 
of eight centuries, the Spanish nation succeeded in 
overthrowing the Moors, and in planting the national 
flag over the entire country. At last the Cross con- 
quered the Crescent, and Christianity triumphed 
over Mahometanism. The empire was consolidated 
under the joint reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. 

But there still remained .elements of discord in the 
nation. The population was composed of three con- 
flicting races — the Spaniards, Moors, and Jews. Per- 
haps the difficulties which beset our own Government 
in its efforts to harmonize the white, the Indian, and 
the colored pop'iJation will give us some idea of the 
formidable obsiatjles with which the Spanish court 
had to contend in its efforts to cement into one na- 
tion a conquering and a conquered people of different 
race and religion. 

The Jews and the Moors were disaffected towards 
the Spanish government not only on political, but 
also on religious grounds. They were suspected, 
and not unjustly, of desiring to transfer their al- 
legiance from the King of Spain to the King of 
Barbary, or the Grand Turk. 

The Spanish Inquisition was accordingly erected 
by King Ferdinand, less from motives of religious 
zeal than from those of human policy. It was es- 
tablished, not so much with the view of preserving 
the Catholic faith, as of perpetuating the integrity 
of his kingdom. The Moors and Jews were looked 



^50 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

upon not only as enemies of the altar, but chiefly as 
enemies of the throne. Catholics were upheld not 
for their faith alone, but because they united faith 
to loyalty. The baptized Moors and Israelites were 
oppressed for their heresy because their heresy was 
allied to sedition. 

It must be remembered that in those days heresy, 
especially if outspoken, was regarded not only as an 
offence against religion, but also as a crime against 
the state, and was punished accordingly. This con- 
dition of things was not confined to Catholic Spain, 
but preyailed across the sea in Protestant England. 
We find Henry VIII. and his successors pursuing 
the same policy in Great Britain towards their 
Catholic subjects, and punishing Catholicism as a 
crime against the state, just as Islamism .and Juda- 
ism were proscribed in Spain. 

It was, therefore, rather a royal and political 
than an ecclesiastical institution. The King nom- 
inated the Inquisitors, who were equally composed 
of lay and clerical officials. He dismissed them at 
will. From the King, and not from the Pope, they 
derived their jurisdiction, and into the King's cof- 
fers, and not into the Pope's, went all the emolu- 
ments accruing from fines and confiscations. In a 
word, the authority of the Inquisition began and 
ended with the crown. 

In confirmation of these assertions, I shall quote 
from Ranke, a German Protestant historian, who 
cannot be suspected of partiality to the Catholic 



RELIGTOrS PERSECUTION. 251 

Church. ''In the first place/' says this author, 
" the Inquisitors were royal officers. The Kings 
had the right of appointing and dismissing them. 
. . The courts of the Inquisition were subject, 
like other magistracies, to royal visitors. *Do you 
not know,' said the King (to Ximenes), ' that if 
this tribunal possesses jurisdiction, it is from the 
King it derives it ? ' 

** In the second place, all the profit of the confis- 
cations by this court accrued to the King. These 
were carried out in a very unsparing manner. 
Though the fiieros (privileges) of Aragon forbade, 
the King to confiscate the property of his con- 
victed subjects, he deemed himself exalted above 
the law in matters pertaining to this court. . . . 
The proceeds of these confiscations formed a sort 
of regular income for the royal exchequer. It 
was even believed, and asserted from the begin- 
ning, that the Kings had been moved to establish 
and countenance this tribunal more by their hank- 
ering after the wealth it confiscated than by mo- 
tives of piety. 

" In the third place, it was the Inquisition, and 
the Inquisition alone, that completely shut out all 
extraneous interference with the state. The sover- 
eign had now at his disposal a tribunal from which 
no grandee, no Archbishop, could withdraw himself. 
As Charles knew no other means of bringino: certain 
punishm.ent on the Bishops who had taken part in the 
insurrection^ of the Cammunidades (or communes who 



252 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

were struggling for their rights and liberties), he 
chose to have them judged by the Inquisition, . . . 

" It was in spirit and tendency a political institu- 
tion. The Pope had an interest in thwarting it, and 
he did so; but the King had an interest in con- 
stantly upholding it." ^ 

That the Inquisition acted independently of the 
Holy See, and that even the Catholic hierarchy 
fell under the ban of this royal tribunal, is also 
apparent from the following fact: After the con- 
vening of the Council of Trent, Bartholomew Car- 
anza, Archbishop of Toledo, was arrested by the 
Inquisition on a charge of heresy, and his release 
from prison could not be obtained either by the 
interposition of Pius IV. or the remonstrance of 
the Council. 

It is true that Sixtus IV., yielding to the impor- 
tunities of Queen Isabella, consented to its establish- 
ment, being advised that it was necessary for the 
preservation of order in the kingdom ; but in 1481, 
the year following its introduction, when the Jews 
complained to him of its severity, the same Pontiff 
issued a Bull against the Inquisitors, as Prescott in- 
forms us, in which "he rebuked their intemperate 
zeal, and even threatened them with deprivation." 
He wrote to Ferdinand and Isabella that " mercy 
towards the guilty was more pleasing to God than 
the severity which they were using." 

When the Pope could not eradicate the evil, he 

^ The Ottoman and Spanish Empires, bj Leopold Kanke, 



M 



RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 268 

encouraged the sufferers to flee to Rome, where they 
found an asylum, and where he took tlie fugitives 
under his protection. In two years he received four 
hundred and fifty refugees from Spain. Did the 
Pontiff send them back, or did he inflict vengeance 
on them at home? Far from it; they were restored 
to all the rights of citizens. How can we imagine 
that the Pope would encourage in Spain the legal- 
ized murder of men whom he protected from vio- 
lence in his own city, where he might have crushed 
them with impunity ? I can find no authenticated 
instance of any Pope putting to death, in his own 
dominions, a single individual for his religious belief. 

Moreover, sometimes the Pope, when he could 
not reach the victims, censured and excommunicated 
the Inquisitor, and protected the children of those 
whose property was confiscated to the crown. 

Afler a struggle, he succeeded in preventing the 
Spanish government from establishing its Inquisi- 
tion in Naples or Milan, which then belonged to 
Spain, so great was his abhorrence of its cruelties. 

To sum up: I have endeavored to show that 
the Church disavows all responsibility for the 
excesses of the Spanish Inquisition, because oppres- 
sion forms no part of her creed ; that these atrocities 
have been grossly exaggerated ; that the Inquisition 
was a political tribunal; that Catholic Prelates 
were amenable to its sentence as well as Moors 
and Jews, and that the Popes denounced and 
labored hard to abolish its sanguinary features. 
22 



254 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

And J lit Eome has to bear all the odium of the 
Inquisition ! 

I heartily pray that religious intolerance may 
never take root in our favored land. May the only 
king to force our conscience be the King of kings ; 
may the only prison erected among us for the sin of 
unbelief or misbelief be the prison of a troubled con- 
science; and may our only motive for embracing 
truth be not the fear of man, but the love of truth 
and of God. 

II. 

TVhat about the massacre of St. Bartliolomew f 
I have no words strong enough to express my de- 
testation of that inhuman slaughter. It is true that 
the number of its victims has been grossly exagger- 
ated by partisan writers, but that is no extenuation 
of the crime itself But I most emphatically assert 
that the Church had no act or part in this atrocious 
butchery, except to deplore the event and weep over 
its unhappy victims. Here are the facts briefly pre- 
sented : 

1. In the reign of Charles IX. of France, the 
Huguenots were a formidable power and a seditious 
element in that country. They were under the 
leadership of Admiral Coligny, who was plotting 
the overthrow of the ruling monarch. The French 
King, instigated by his mother, Catherine de Medici*, 
and fearing the influence of Coligny^ whom he re- 
garded as an aspirant to the throne, compassed his 



RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 266 

assassination, as well as that of his followers in 
Paris, August 24th 1572. This deed of violence 
was followed by an indiscriminate massacre in the 
French capital, and other cities of France, by an in- 
cendiary populace, who are easily aroused but not 
easily appeased. 

2. Religion had nothing to do with the massacre. 
Coligny and his fellow Huguenots were slain not on 
account of their creed, but exclusively on account 
of their alleged treasonable designs. If they had 
nothing but their Protestant faith to render them 
odious to King Charles, they would never have 
been molested; for, neither did Charles nor his 
mother ever manifest any special zeal for the Cath- 
olic Church, nor any special aversion to Protestant- 
ism, unless when it threatened the throne. 

3. Immediately after the massacre, Charles de- 
spatched an envoy extraordinary to each of the 
courts of Europe, conveying the startling intelli- 
gence that the Kiug and royal family had narrowly 
escaped from a horrible conspiracy, and that its 
authors had been detected and summarily punished. 
The envoys, in their narration, carefully suppressed 
any allusion to the indiscriminate massacre which 
had taken place, but announced the event in the fol- 
lowing words : On that " memorable night, by the 
destruction of a few seditious men, the King had 
been delivered from immediate danger of death, 
and the realm from the perpetual terror of civil 
war." 



256 THE FAITH OF oUR FATHERS. 

Pope Gregory XIII., to whom also an eiiToy was 
sent, acting on this garbled information, ordered a 
'* Te Deum " to be sung, and a commemorative 
medal to be struck off in thanksgiving to God, not 
for the massacre, of which he was utterly ignorant, 
but for the preservation of the French King from 
an untimely and violent death, and of the French 
nation from the horrors of a civil war. 

Sismondi, a Protestant historian, tells us that the 
Pope's nuncio in Paris was purposely kept in igno- 
rance of the designs of Charles; and Ranke, in his 
History of the Civil Wars, informs us that Charles 
and his mother suddenly left Paris in order to avoid 
an interview with the Pope's legate, who arrived 
soon after the massacre ; their guilty conscience 
fearing, no doubt, a rebuke from the messenger of 
the Vicar of Christ, from whom the real facts were 
not long concealed. 

4. It is scarcely necessary to vindicate the inno- 
cence of the Bishops and clergy of France in this 
transaction, as no author, how hostile soever to the 
Church, has ever, to my knowledge, accused them 
of any complicity in the heinous massacre. 

On the contrary, they used their best efforts in 
arresting the progress of the assailants, in prevent- 
ing more bloodshed, and in protecting the lives of 
*,he fugitives. More than three hundred Calvinists 
were sheltered from the assassins by taking refuge 
m the house of the Archbishop of Lyons. The 
Bishops of Lisieux, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and of other 



RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 257 

cities, rendered similar protection to those who sought 
safety in their homes. 

Thus we see that the Church slept in tranquil 
ignorance of the stormy scene until she w^as aroused 
to a knowledge of the tempest by the sudden uproar 
it created. And like her divine Spouse on the 
troubled waters, she presents herself only to say to 
them; " Peace, be still." 

III. 

I am asked : Must you not adrait that Mary, Queen 
of England, persecuted the Protestants of the British 
realm f I ask this question in reply : IB^ou) is it thai 
Catholics are persistently reproached for the persecutions 
under Mary^s reign, while scarcely a voice i^ raised in 
condemnation of tlie legalized fines, confiscations, and 
deaths inflicted on the Catholics of Great Britain and 
Ireland for three hundred years, — from the establish' 
ment of the church of England, in 1534, to the time of 
the Catholic emancipation f Elizabeth's hands were 
steeped in the blood of Catholics, Puritans, and Ana- 
baptists. Why are these cruelties suppressed or 
glossed over, while those of Mary form the bur- 
den of every nursery tale ? Is it because persecu- 
tion becomes justice when Catholics happen to be 
the victims ; or is it because they are expected, from 
long usage, to be insensible to torture ? 

If we weigh in the scales of impartial justice the 
reigns of both sisters, we shall be compelled to bring 
a far more severe verdict against Elizabeth. 
22* R 



258 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

1. Mary reigned only five years and four months, 
Elizabeth's reign lasted forty-four years and four 
months The younger sister, therefore, swayed the 
sceptre of authority nearly nine times longer than 
the elder; and the number of Catholics who suffered 
for their faith during the long administration of 
Elizabeth may be safely said to exceed in the same 
proportion the victims of Mary's reign. Hallam 
asserts that " the rack seldom stood idle in the tower 
for all the latter part of Elizabeth's reign ; " ^ and its 
very first month was stained by an intolerant statute.' 

2. The most unpardonable act of Mary's life, in 
the judgment of her critics, was the execution of 
Lady Jane Grey. But Lady Jane was guilty of high 
treason, having usurped the throne of England, 
which she occupied for nine days. 

Elizabeth put to death her cousin Mary, Queen 
of Scots, after a long imprisonment, on the unsus- 
tained charge of aspiring to the English throne. 

3. Mary's zeal was exercised in behalf of the re- 
ligion of her forefathers, and of the faith established 
in England for nearly a thousand years. 

Elizabeth's zeal was employed in extending the new 
3reed introduced by her father in a moment of passion, 
and modified by herself. Surely, the coercive enforce- 
ment of a new creed is more odious than the rigorous 
QQaintenance of the time-honored faith of a nation. 

Mary, therefore, insisted on perpetuating the estab- 
lished order of things ; Elizabeth, on subverting it. 

^ Constitutional History : Elizabeth, Chap. III. 
' See Lingard, Vol. VII., pp. 244-5. 



RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 



259 



4. The elder sister was propagating what she be- 
lieved to be the unchangeable and infallible doc- 
trines of Jesus Christ ; the younger sister was pro- 
pagating her own and her father's novel and more 
or less uncertain opinions. 

5. While Mary had no private or personal motives 
in oppressing Protestants, Elizabeth's hostility to the 
Catholic Church was intensified, if not instigated, by 
her hatred of the Pope, who had declared her ille- 
gitimate. Her legitimacy before the world depended 
on the success of the new religion, which had legal- 
ized her father's divorce from Catherine. 

6. Hence, as Macaulay says, Mary was sincere in 
her religion ; Elizabeth was not. " Having no scruple 
about conforming to the Romish Church when con- 
formity was necessary to her own safety, retaining 
to the last moment of her life a fondness for much 
of the doctrine and much of the ceremonial of that 
Church, she yet subjected that Church to a persecu- 
tion even more odious than the persecution with 
which her sister had harassed the Protestants. 
Mary .... did nothing for her religion which she 
was not prepared to suffer for it. She had held it 
firmly under persecution. She fully believed it to 
be essential to salvation. Elizabeth, in opinion, was 
little more than half a Protestant. She had pro- 
fessed, when it suited her, to be wholly a Catholic. . . . 
What can be said in defence of a ruler who is at 
once indifferent and intolerant ? " ^ 

^ Review of Nares' Memoirs of Lord Burghley. 



280 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

An intelligent gentleman in North Carolina once 
said to me tauntingly, What do you think of bloody 
Mary ? Did you ever hear, I replied, of her sister's 
cruelties to Catholics ? He answered that he never 
read of that mild woman persecuting for conscience' 
sake. I was amazed at his words, until he acknowl- 
edged that his historical library was comprised io- 
one work — D'Aubigne^s History of the Reforma- 
tion. That veracious author has prudently sup- 
pressed, or delicately touched, Elizabeth's pecca- 
dilloes as not coming within the scope of his plan. 
How many are found, like our North Carolina gen- 
tleman, who are familiar from their childhood with 
the name of Smithfield, but who never once heard of 
Tyburn / 



CHAPTER XVni. 

GRACE — THE SACRAMENTS — ORIGINAL SIN — BAP- 
TISM — ITS NECESSITY — ITS EFFECTS — IVIANNER 
OF BAPTIZING. 

^ PHE grace of God is that supernatural assistance 
X which He imparts to us, through the merits of 
Jesus Christ, for our salvation. It is called super- 
natural, because no one by his own natural ability 
can acquire it. 

Without divine grace, we can neither conceive 
nor accomplish anything for the sanctification of our 
souls. " Not that we are sufficient," says the Apos- 



THE SACKAMENT OF BAPTISM. 261 

tie, " to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves ; 
but our sufficiency is from God." ^ " For it is God 
who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish"' 
anything conducive to your salvation. " Without 
Me," says our Lord, "you can do nothing.'' ^ But 
in order that divine grace may effectually aid us, 
we must co-operate with it, or at least we must not 
resist it. 

The grace of God is obtained chiefly by prayer 
and the Sacraments. 

A Sacrament is a visible sign instituted by Christ, 
by which grace is conveyed to our souls. Three 
things are necessary to constitute a Sacrament, viz. : 
a visible sign, invisible grace, and the institution by 
our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Thus, in the Sacrament of Baptism, there is the 
outward sign, which consists in the pouring of water, 
and in the formula of words which are then pro- 
nounced ; the interior grace or sanctification which 
is imparted to the soul: "Be baptized, . . . and 
you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost ; " * and 
the ordinance of Jesus Christ, who said : " Teach all 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." ^ 

Our Saviour instituted seven Sacraments, namely, 
Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme 
Unction, Orders, and Matrimony, which I shall ex- 
plain separately. 

» II. Cor. iii. 5. 2 p^^ii^ jj 13^ 3 JoJ^q ^ 5^ 

♦ Acts ii. 38. 6 Matt, xxviii. 19. 



262 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

According to the teachings of Holy Writ, man 
was created in a state of innocence and holiness, and 
after having spent on this earth his allotted term of 
years, he was destined, without tasting death, to be 
translated to the perpetual society of God in heaven. i 
But in consequence of his disobedience, he fell from 
tiiS high estate of righteousness ; his soul was defiled 
by sin ; he became subject to death and to various 
ills of body and soul, and forfeited his heavenly in- 
heritance. 

Adam's transgression was not confined to himself, 
but was transmitted, with its long train of dire con- 
sequences, to all his posterity. Aud it is called 
Original sin because it is derived from our original 
progenitor. " Wherefore," says St. Paul, " as by 
one man sin entered into this world, and by sin 
death, and so death passed unto all men, in whom 
all have sinned.'^ ^ And elsewhere he tells 'us that 
" we were by nature children of wrath." ^ 

" Who,'' says Job, " can make him clean that is 
conceived of unclean seed," or, as the Septuagint 
version expresses it : " There is no one free from 
stain, not even though his life be of one day." * As 
an infant one day old cannot commit an actual sin, 
the stain must come from the origiual offence of 
Adam. "Behold," says David, "I was conceived 
in iniquities, and in sins did my mother conceive 
me."^ The Scripture also tells us that Jeremiah 

^ See Wisdom ii. 23, ^ ^^^^^ ^i^. ^ Eph. ii, 3. 

* Job xiv. 4. 6 Ps. 1. 7. 



THE SACHAMEXT OF BAPTISM. 263 

and John the Baptist were sanctified before their 
bii^th, or purified from sin, and of course, at that 
period of their existence, they were incapable of 
actual sin. They were cleansed, therefore, from the 
original taint. 

These passages clearly show that we have all in- 
herited the transgression of our first parents, and 
that we are born enemies of God. And it is equally 
plain that these texts apply to every member of the 
human family, to the infant of a day old as well as 
to the adult. 

Indeed, even without the light of Holy Scripture, 
we have only to look into ourselves to be convinced 
that our nature has undergone a rude shock. How 
else can we account for the miseries and infirmities 
of our bodies, the blindness of our understanding, 
the perversity of our will, — inclined always to evil 
rather than to good, — the violence of our passions, 
which are constantly waging war in our hearts? 
How well does the Catholic doctrine explain this 
abnormal state. Hence, Paschal truly says that 
man is a greater mystery to himself without Origi- 
nal sin, than is the mystery itself 

The Church, however, declares that the Blessed 
Virgin Mary was exempted from the stain of Origi- 
nal sin by the merits of our Saviour Jesus Christ ; 
and that, consequently, she was ne\er for an instant 
subject to the dominion of Satan. This is what is 
meant by the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. 

But God, in passing sentence of condemnation on 



^4 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Adam, consoled him by the promise of a Redeemer 
to come. ^' I will put enmities," saith the Lord, "be- 
tween thee and the woman, and thy seed and her 
seed ; she shall crush thy head." ^ Jesus, the seed 
of ^Tarv, is the chosen one who was destined to 
crush tne head of the infernal serpent. And 
"when the fulness of time was come, God sent 
His Son, made of a woman, . . . that He might 
redeem them that were under the law, that we 
might receive the adoption of sons." ^ 

Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, came to wash away 
the defilement from our souls, and to restore us to 
that divine friendship which we had lost by the sin 
of Adam. He is the second Adam, who came to re- 
pair the iniquity of the first. It was our Saviour's 
privilege to prescribe the conditions on which our 
reconciliation with God was to be effected. 

Now He tells us in His Gospel that Baptism is 
tne essential means established for washing away 
the stain of original sin, and the door by which 
we find admittance into His Church, which may 
be called the second Eden. We must all submit 
to a new birth, or regeneration, before we can en- 
ter the kingdom of heaven. Water is the appro- 
priate instrument of this new birth, as it indicates 
the interior cleansing of the soul ; and the Holy 
Ghost, the Giver of spiritual life, is its Author. 

The Church teaches that Baptism is necessary for 

1 Gen. in. 15. »Gal. iv. 4, 5. 



THE SACRAMENT OP BAPTISM. 260 

all, for infants as well as adults, and her doctrine 
rests on the following grounds : 

Our Lord says to Nicodemus : " Amen, amen, I 
say to thee, unless a man be born again of water 
and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the king- 
dom of God.'' ^ These words embrace the whole 
human family, without regard to age or sex, as is 
evident from the original Greek text, for ti^j which 
is rendered man in our English translation, means 
any one, mankind in its broadest acceptation. 

The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of 
St. Paul, although containing only a fragmentary 
account of the ministry of the Apostles, plainly 
insinuate that the Apostles baptized children as 
well as grown persons. We are told, for instance, 
that Lydia '* was baptized, and her household," ' 
by St. Paul ; and that the jailer " was baptized, 
and all his family." ' The same Apostle baptized 
also "the household of Stephanas."* Although it 
is not expressly stated that there were children 
among these baptized families, the presumption 
is strongly in favor of the supposition that there 
were. But if any doubt exists regarding the 
Apostolic practice of baptizing infants, it is easily 
removed by referring to the writings of the primitive 
Fathers of the Church, who, as they were the im- 
mediate successors of the Apostles, ought to be the 
best interpreters of their doctrines and practice. 

^ John iii. 5. ' Acts xvi. 15. 

» Ibid. xvi. 33. * I. Cor. i. 16. 

23 



266 THE FAITH OF OUB FATHERS. 

St. IrensBus, a disciple of Polycarp, who was a 
disciple of St. John the Evangelist, says : " Christ 
came to save all through Himself; all, I say, who are 
horn anew (or baptized) through Him — infants and 
little ones, boys and youths, and aged persons." ^ 

Origen, who lived a few years later, writes : " The 
Church received the tradition from the Apostles, to 
give baptism even to infants." ^ 

The early church of Africa bears triumphant 
testimony in vindication of infant baptism. St. 
Cyprian and sixty-six suffragan Prelates held a 
council in the metropolitan city of Carthage, in the 
year 253. While the Council is in session, a Prelate 
named Fidus writes to the Fathers, asking them 
whether infants ought to be baptized before the 
eighth day succeeding their birth, or on the eighth 
day, in accordance wiin the practice of circumcision. 
The Bishops unanimously subscribe to the follow- 
ing reply : " As to what regards the baptism of in- 
fants, ... we all judged that the mercy and grace 
of God should be denied to no human being from 
the moment of his birth. If even to the greatest 
delinquents the remission of sins is granted, how 
much less should the infant be repelled, who, being 
recently born according to Adam, has contracted at 
bis first birth the contagion of the ancient death." ^ 
The African Council asserts here two prominent 
facts, — the universal contagion of the human race 

1 Lib II. adr. Hseir. ^ j^ ^p^ ^d Rom. 

^ Epis. ad Fidum. 



THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 267 

through Adam's fall, and the aniversal necessity of 
Baptism without distinction of age. 

Upon this decision, I will make two observations : 
1. Fidus did not inquire about the necessity of in- 
fant baptism, which he already admitted, but about 
the propriety of conferring it on the eighth day, in 
imitation of the Jewish law of circumcision. 2. Tlie 
Bishops assembled in that Council were as numer- 
ous as the whole Episcopate of the United States, 
which contains about five thousand Priests and up- 
wards of six millions of Catholics. We may there- 
fore reasonably conclude that the judgment of the 
African Council represented the faith of several 
thousand Priests, and several millions of Catholics. 

St. Augustine, commenting on this decision, justly 
observes that St. Cyprian and his colleagues made 
no new decree, but maintained most firmly the faith 
of the Church. And this is the unanimous senti- 
ment of tradition from the days of the Apostles to 
our own times. 

Is it not ludicrous as well as impious to see a few 
German fanatics, in the sixteenth century, raising 
their feeble voice against the thunder tones of all 
Christendom, by decrying a practice which was 
universally held as sacred and essential ? And in 
judging between the teachings of Apostolical an- 
tiquity, on the one hand, and of the Anabaptists on 
the other, it is not hard to determine on which side 
lies the truth ; for, what becomes of the Christian 
Church, if it has erred on so vital a point as that of 
Baptism during the entire period of its existence? 



268 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Original sin, as St. Paul has told us, is universai. 
Every child is, therefore, defiled at its birth with 
the taint of Adam's disobedience. Now the Scrip- 
ture says that nothing defiled can enter the king- 
dom of heaven/ Hence, Baptism, which washes 
away original sin, is as essential for the infant as 
for the full grown man, in order to attain the king- 
dom of heaven. 

I said that Regeneration is necessary for all. But 
it is important to observe that if a man is heartily 
sorry for his sins, and loves God with his whole 
heart, and desires to comply with all the divine 
ordinances, including Baptism, but has no oppor- 
tunity of receiving it, or is not suflSciently instructed 
as to its necessity, God, in this case, accepts the 
will for the deed. Should this man die in these 
dispositions, he is saved by the baptism of desire. 
Or, if an unbaptized person lays down his life for 
Christ, his death is accepted as more than an 
equivalent for Baptism; for, he dies not only 
sanctified, but will wear a martyr's crown. He is 
baptized in his own blood. 

But is not that a cruel and heartless doctrine 
which excludes from heaven so many harmless 
babes that have never committed any actual fault? 
To this I reply : Has not God declared that Bap- 
tism is necessary for all ? And is not God the su- 
preme Wisdom and Justice and Mercy ? I am sure, 
then, that there can be nothing cruej or unjust in 

^ Apoc. xxi. 27. 



THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 269 

God's decrees. The province of reason consists in 
ascertaining that God has spoken. When we know 
that He has spoken, then our investigation ceases, 
and faith and obedience begin. Instead of im- 
piously criticising the divine decree, we should ex- 
claim with the Apostle : ** ! the depth of the 
riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! how 
incomprehensible are His judgments, and how un- 
searchable His ways ! For, who hath known the 
mind of the Lord ? or who hath been His counsel- 
lor?"^ 

Let us remember that heaven is a place to which 
none of us has any inherent righl or natural claim, 
but that it is promised to us by tne pure favor of 
God. He can reject and adopt whom He pleases, 
and can, without injustice, prescribe His own con- 
ditions for accepting His proffered boon. If your 
child is deprived of heaven by being deprived of 
Baptism, God does it no wrong, because He infringes 
no right to which your child had any inalienable 
title. If your child obtains the grace of Baptism, 
be thankful for the gift. 

It is proper here to state briefly what the Church 
actually teaches regarding the future state of un- 
baptized infants. Though the Church, in obedience 
to God's Word, declares that unbaptized infants are 
excluded from the kingdom of heaven, it should not 
hence be cod eluded that they are consigned to the 
place of the reprobate. None are condemned to the 

1 Rom. xi. 33, 34 
S3* 



270 THE FAITH OF OTTR FATHERS. 

torments of the damned, but such as merit divine 
vengeance by their personal sins. 

All that the Church holds on this point, is that 
unregenerate children are deprived of the beatific 
vision, or the possession of God, which constitutes 
the essential happiness of the blessed. 

Now, between the supreme bliss of heaven and 
the torments of the reprobate, there is a very wide 
margin. 

All admit that the condition of unbaptized infants 
is better than non-existence. There are some Cath- 
olic writers of distinction who even assert that un- 
baptized infants enjoy a certain degree of natural 
beatitude, that is, a happiness which is based on the 
natural knowledge and love of God. 

From what has been said, you may well judge 
how reprehensible is the conduct of Catholic parents 
who neglect to have their children baptized at the 
earliest possible moment, thereby risking their own 
souls, as well as the souls of their innocent offspring. 
How different was the practice of the early Chris- 
tians, who, as St. Augustine testifies, hastened with 
their new-born babes to the baptismal font, that they 
might not be deprived of the grace of regeneration. 

If an infant is sick, no expense is spared that its 
life may be preserved. The physician is called in; 
medicine is given to it ; and the mother will spend 
sleepless nights watching every movement of the 
infant; she will sacrifice her repose, her health; 
nay, she will expose even her own life, that the life 



THE SACRAMENT OF BAITISM. 231 

of her offspring may be saved. And yet the super- 
natural happiness of the child is too often imperiled 
without remorse by the criminal postponement oi 
Baptism. 

But, if they are to be censured who are slow in 
having their children baptized, what are we to think 
of that large body of professing Christians who, on 
principle, deny Baptism to little ones till they come 
to the age of discretion ? What are we to think of 
those who set their private opinions above Scripture, 
the early Fathers of the Church, and the universal 
practice of Christendom ? 

We may smile indeed at a theological opinion, no 
matter how novel or erroneous it may be, so long as 
it does not involve any dangerous consequences. 
But when it is given in a case of life and death, 
how terrible is the responsibility of those who propa- 
gate such erroneous doctrines. 

The opposite practice of the Catholic and the 
Baptist churches, in their treatment of the new-born 
infant, may be well compared to the conduct of the 
true and false mother who both claimed the child 
at the tribunal of Solomon. The king exclaimed : 
" Divide the living child in two, and give half to 
the one and half to the other." The pretended 
mother consented, saying : Let it be neither mine nor 
thine, but divide it. " But the woman whose child 
was alive, said to the king (for her bowels were 
moved upon her child) : I beseech thee, my lord, 
give her the child alive, and do not kill it.' While 



272 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

the Baptist church is willing that the child should 
die a spiritual death, the true mother, the Catholic 
Church, cries out: Keep the child, provided its 
spiritual life is saved, even at your hands. Let it 
be clothed with the robe of innocence even by a 
stranger. Let it be nursed at the breasts even of a 
step-mother. Better it should live without me than 
perish before my face. I will still be its mother, 
though it know me not. 

Ah ! my Baptist friend, you think that Baptism is 
not necessary for your child's salvation. The old 
Church teaches the contrary. You admit that you 
may be wrong, and it is a question of life and 
death. Take the safe side. Give your child the 
benefit of the doubt. Let it be baptized. 

Baptism washes away original sin, and also actual 
sins from the adult who may have contracted them. 
The cleansing efficacy of Baptism was clearly fore- 
shadowed by the prophet Ezechiel in these words : 
" I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be 
cleansed from all your filthiness." ^ 

When the Jews asked St. Peter what they should 
do to be saved, the Apostle replied : " Kepent, and 
let every one of you be baptized in the name of 
Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins." ^ 

And Ananias said to Saul, after his conversion : 
'* Rise up and be baptized, and wash away thy sins.''* 

" We were by nature," says St. Paul, " children 
of wrath,'* but by our regeneration, or new birth in 

1 Ezech. xxxvi 25. * Acts ii. 38. » Ibid. xxii. 16. 



THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM. 273 

Baptism, we become Christimis and children of God, 
" For, ye are all the children of God by faith in 
Christ Jesus. For, as many of you as have been 
baptized in Christ, have put on Christ." ^ We 
are adopted into the same family with Jesus Christ 
What He is by nature, we are by grace, children of 
God, and consequently brethren of Christ. Nay, 
our union with Jesus is still more close. We be- 
come true members of His mystical body, which is 
His Church, and His divine image is stamped upon 
our soul. 

Baptism also clothes us with the garment of sanctity^ 
so that our soul becomes a fit dwelling-place for the 
Holy Ghost. The Apostle, after giving a fearfiil 
catalogue of the vices of the Pagans, says to the 
Corinthians : " And such some of you were ; but ye 
are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified 
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the 
Spirit of our God." ^ 

Baptism, in fine, makes us heirs of heaven, and co- 
heirs with Jesus Christ. ** We ourselves also," says 
St. Paul, " were sometime unwise, incredulous, erring, 
slaves to divers desires and pleasures, living in malice 
and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But when 
the goodness and kindness of God our Saviour ap- 
peared, .... He saved us by the laver of regener- 
ation and reuovation of the Holy Ghost, whom He 
hath poured forth abundantly upon us, through 

* Gal. ill. 26, 27. » I. Cor. vi. 11. 

8 



274 THE FAITH OF OTJR FATHERS. 

Jesus Christ our Saviour, that being justified byHia 
grace, we may be heirs according to the hope of 
life everlasting." ^ 

Here we plainly see that the forgiveness of sin, 
the adoption into the family of God, the sanctifica- 
tion of the soul, and the pledge of eternal life, are 
ascribed to the due reception of Baptism ; — not, in- 
deed, that water or the words of the minister have 
any intrinsic virtue to heal the soul, but because 
Jesus Christ, whose word is creative power, is pleased 
to attach to this rite its wonderful efficacy of heal- 
ing the soul, as He imparted to the pool of Bethsaida 
the power of healing the body.^ 

From what has been said, I ask you candidly 
what are you to think of the decision rendered in 
1872 by the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, who, in their convention in Baltimore, de- 
clared that by the word Regenerration we are not to 
understand a moral change. If no moral change is 
effected by Baptism, then there is no change at all • 
for, certainly Baptism produces no physical change 
in the soul. 

Is it no change to pass from sin to virtue, from 
a " child of wrath " to be a *' child of God ; " from 
corruption to sanctification ; from the condition of 
heirs of death to the inheritance of heaven ? If all 
this implies no moral change, then these words have 
lost their meaning. 

Modes of baptizing. The Baptists err in asserting 

1 Tit. iii. 3-7. 2 j^j^n y^ 



THE SACEAMENT OF BAPTISM. 275 

that Baptism by immersion is the only valid node. 
Baptism may be validly administered in either of 
three ways, viz. : by immersion^ or by plunging the 
candidate into the water; hj infusion, or by poaring 
the water ; and by aspersion, or sprinkling. 

As our Lord nowhere prescribes any special form 
of administering the Sacrament, the Church exer- 
cises her discretion in adopting the most convenient 
mode, according to the circumstances of time and 
place. 

For several centuries after the establishment of 
Christianity, Baptism was usually conferred by im- 
mersion ; but since the twelfth century, the practice 
of baptizing by infusion has prevailed in the Catholic 
C^iurch, as this manner is attended with less incon- 
venience than Baptism by immersion. 

To prove that Baptism by infusion or by sprink- 
ling is as legitimate as by immersion, it is only 
necessary to observe that, though immersion was the 
more common practice in the Primitive Church, the 
Sacrament was frequently administered even then 
by infusion and aspersion. 

After St. Peter's first discourse, three thousand per- 
sons were baptized.^ It is not likely that so many 
could have been immersed in one day, especially 
when we consider the time occupied in instructing 
Uie candidates. 

On reading the account of the Baptism of St. 
Paul and the jailer, the context leaves a strong im- 

^ Acts n. 41. 



276 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

pression on the mind that both received the Sacra- 
ment by aspersion or by infusion. 

Early ecclesiastical history records a great many 
instances in which Baptism was administered to sick 
persons in their beds, to prisoners in their cells, and 
to persons on shipboard. And the Fathers of the 
Church never called in question the validity or the 
legitimacy of such Baptisms. Now, it is almost im- 
possible to believe that candidates in such situations 
could receive the rite by immersion. 

We have seen, moreover, that Baptism has always 
been declared necessary for salvation. It is reason- 
able, hence, to believe that our Lord would have 
afforded the greatest facility for the reception of so 
essential a Sacrament. 

But if Baptism by immersion only is valid, how 
many sick and delicate persons, how many prisoners 
and seafaring people, how many thousands living in 
the Frigid Zone, or even in the Temperate Zone, 
in the depth of an inclement winter, though all 
craving the grace of regeneration, would be deprived 
of God's seal, or would receive it at the risk of their 
lives ! Surely God does not ordinarily impose His 
ordinances upon us under such a penalty. 

Moreover, if immersion is the only valid form of 
Baptism, what has become of the millions of souls 
who, in every age and country, have been regener- 
ated by the infusion or the aspersion of water in 
the Christian Church ? 



4 



THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIEMATION. ^77 

CHAPTER XIX. 

THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION. 

COTs FIRMATION is a Sacrament m which, 
through the imposition of the Bishop's hands, 
unction, and prayer, baptized persons receive the 
Holy Ghost, that they may steadfastly profess their 
faith and lead upright lives. 

This Sacrament is called Confirmation, because it 
confirms or strengthens the soul by divine grace. 
Sometimes it is named the laying on of hands, because 
the Bishop imposes his hands on those whom he con- 
firms. It is also known by the name of Chrism, be- 
cause the forehead of the person confirmed is anointed 
with chrism in the form of a cross. 

Frequent mention is made of this Sacrament in 
the Holy Scripture. In the Acts, it is written that 
" When the Apostles who were in Jerusalem had 
heard that Samaria had received the word of God, 
they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when 
they were come, prayed for them that they might 
receive the Holy Ghost ; for He was not yet come 
upon any of them, but they were only baptized in 
the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their 
hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.'' ^ 

It is also related that the disciples at Ephesus 
" were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus ; and 
when Paul had imposed his hands upon them, the 

^ Acts viii. 14-17. 
24 



278 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Holy Ghost came upon them, and they spoke tongues 
and prophesied/' ^ 

In his Epistle to the Hebrews, St. Paul enumerates 
Confirmation, or the laying on of hands, together 
with Baptism and Penance, among the fundamental 
truths of Christianity.^ 

And to the Corinthians he writes : " He that con- 
firmeth us with you in Christ, and that hath anointed 
us, is God ; who also hath sealed us, and given the 
pledge of the Spirit in our hearts." ^ God conjinneth 
us in faith ; He hath anointed us by spiritual unction, 
typified by the sacred chrism which is marked on 
our foreheads. He hath sealed us by the indelible 
character stamped on our souls, which is indicated 
by the sign of the cross impressed on us. He hath 
given the pledge of the Holy Ghost in our hearts, by 
the testimony of a good conscience, as an earnest of 
fiiture glory. The Bishop performs the external 
unction, but God, "who worketh all in all," sanc- 
tifies the soul by His secret operation. 

It cannot be asserted that the laying on of hands, 
and the graces which followed from it, as recorded 
in the Acts, were not intended to be continued after 
tlie Apostles' times ; for there is no warrant for such 
an assumption. This function of imposing hands 
formed as regular and imperative a part of the 
Apostolic ministry as the duties which they exer- 
cised in preaching, baptizing, ordaining, etc. And 
hence the successors of the Apostles in the nineteenth 

^ Acts xix. 5, 6. 2 Heb. vi. 1, 2. ^ II. Cor. i. 21. 



THE SACRAMENT OF CONTrRMATION. 279 

century have precisely the same authority and obli- 
gation to confirm as they have to preach, to baptize, 
or to ordain. 

Those who were confirmed by the Apostles usually 
gave evidence of the grace which they received by 
prophecy, the gift of tongues, and the manifestation 
of other miraculous powers. It may be asked : Why 
do not these gifts accompany now the imposition 
of hands ? I answer : Because they are no longer 
needed. The grace which the Apostolic disciples 
received was for their personal sanctification. The 
gift of tongues which they exercised was intended 
by Almighty God to edify and enlighten the spec- 
tators, and to give divine sanction to the Apos- 
tolic ministry. But now that the Church is firmly 
established, and the divine authority of her min- 
istry is clearly recognized, these miracles are no 
longer necessary. St. Gregory illustrates this point 
by a happy comparison : As the sapling, he says, 
when it is first planted, is regularly watered by the 
gardener, who softens the earth around it, that the 
sun and the moisture may nourish its roots until it 
takes deep root, when it no longer requires any 
special care ; so the Church in her infancy had to be 
nourished by the miraculous power of God. But 
after it had taken root in the hearts of the people, 
and spread its branches over the earth, it was left to 
the ordiuary agencies of Providence. 

St. Augustine writes also on the same subject : 
" In tlie first days (of the Church), the Holy Ghost 



280 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

came down on believers, and they spoke m tongues 

^hicli they had not learned These were 

niracles suited to the times Is it now ex- 
pected that they upon whom hands are laid, should 
speak with tongues ? Or, when we imposed hands 
on these children, did each of you wait to see whether 
they would speak with tongues ? .... If, then, there 
be not now a testimony to the presence of the Holy 
Spirit by means of these miracles, whence is it proved 
that he has received the Holy Spirit? Let him ask 
his own heart ; if he loves his brother, the Spirit of 
God abides in him." ^ 

Following in the footsteps of the Apostles, we find 
the Fathers of the Church, from the earliest ao^e, 
recognizing Confirmation as a divine and sacra- 
mental institution, and proclaiming its salutary 
effects. 

" The flesh," says Tertullian, " is anointed, that 
the soul may be consecrated ; the flesh is marked, 
that the soul may be fortified ; the flesh is over- 
shadowed hy the imposition of hands, that the soul 
may be enlightened with the Spirit." ^ 

St. Cyprian, speaking of the Christians baptized 
in Samaria, says : " Because they had received the 
legitimate baptism, . . . what was wanting, that 
was done by Peter and John, that prayer being 
made for them, and hands imposed, the Holy Ghost 
should be invoked and poured forth upon them. 
Which now also is done amongst us, so that they who 

^ Tract VI in Ep. Joan. ^ De Resur. car 



THE SACKAMENT OF CONFIRMATION. 281 

are baptized in the Church, are presented to the 
Bishops of the Church, and by our prayer and im- 
position of hands, they receive the Holy Ghost, and 
are perfected with the seal of the Lord." ^ 

St. Cyril of Jerusalem compares the sacred 
Chrism in Confirmation to the Eucharist: "You 
were anointed with oil, being made sharers and 
partners of Christ. And see well that you regard 
it not as mere ointment ; for, as the bread of the 
Eucharist, after the invocation of the Holy Ghost, 
is no longer mere bread, but the body of Christ ; so 
likewise this holy ointment is no longer common 
ointment after the invocation, but the gift of Christ 
and of the Holy Ghost, being rendered efficient by 
His divinity. You were anointed on the forehead, 
that you might be delivered from the shame which 
the first transgressor always experienced, and that you 
might contemplate the glory of God with an unveiled 
countenance. . . . As Christ, after His baptism, and 
the descent of the Holy Ghost upon Him, going forth, 
overcame the adversary, so you likewise, after holy 
baptism and the mysterious unction, clothed with the 
panoply of the Holy Ghost, stand against the adverse 
power, and subdue it, saying : * I can do all things 
in Christ who strengtheneth me.' *' ' 

St. Ambrose, commenting on these words of the 
Apostle: "God . . . hath given us the pledge 
of the Spirit," (H. Cor. i. 22,) expressly applies tlie 
text to the seal of Confirmation : " Remember," he 

^ Epiht. Ixxiii. * Cat. xxi. Mys. iii. De S. Chrism. 

24* 



282 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

says, " that you have received the spiritual seal, the 
spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of coun- 
sel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, 
the spirit of holy fear. God the Father hath sealed 
you ; Christ the Lord hath confirmed you, and hath 
given the pledge of the Spirit in your hearts, as you 
have learned from the lesson read from the Apostle,'^ ^ 

St. Ambrose here speaks of the seven-fold gifts 
of the Holy Ghost which are received in Confirma- 
tion, and every Bishop in our day invokes these 
same gifts on those whom he is about to confirm. 

"Do you know," writes St. Jerome against the 
sect of Luciferians of his time, " that it is the prac- 
tice of the churches that the imposition of hands 
should be performed over baptized persons, and the 
Holy Ghost thus invoked ? Do you ask where it is 
written ? In the Acts of the Apostles ; but were 
there no scriptural authority at hand, the consent 
of the whole world in this regard would have the 
force of law." ' 

" You willingly understand," says St. Augustine, 
" by this ointment the Sacrament of Chrism, which 
indeed, in the class of visible seals, is as sacred as 
Baptism itself."^ 

The Oriental schismatic churches recognize Con- 
firmation as a Sacrament, and administer the rite as 
we do, by the imposition of hands and the applica- 
tion of chrism. Now, some of these churches have 

* De Myst. cvii. n. 42. * Dial. adv. Lucifer. 

3 L. II., contra lit. Petil. 



THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION. 283 

been sei)arated from the Catholic Church since the 
iburth and fifth centuries. This fact is an eloquent 
vindication of the Apostolic antiquity of Confirma- 
tion, and is an ample refutation of those who would 
ascribe to it a more recent origin. 

Protestantism, which made such havoc of the other 
Sacraments, did not fail to abolish Confirmation in 
its sweeping revolution. 

The Episcopal church retains, indeed, the name 
of Confirmation in its ritual, and even borrows a 
portion of our prayers and ceremonial. But, in 
opposition to the uniform teaching of the Cath- 
olic, as well as of all the Oriental churches, both 
orthodox and schismatic, it declares Confirmation 
to be a mere rite, and not a sacrament. 

In violation of the practice of all antiquity, it mu- 
tilates the rite by omitting the sacred unction. It 
retains the shadow without the substance. 

It raises, indeed, its hands over the candidates ; 
but they are not the anointed hands of Peter or 
John, or Cyprian or Augustine, to whom it is said ; 
"Whatsoever thou shalt bless, let it be blessed; 
whatsoever thou shalt sanctify, let it be sancti- 
fied." ^ Their hands were lifted up with authority, 
and clothed with supernatural power ; but the 
hands of the Episcopal bishops are spiritually par- 
alyzed by the suicidal act of the Reformers, and 
they expressly disclaim any sacramental eflicacy in 
the rite which they administer. 

^ Roman Pontifical. 



2a4 THE FAITH OF OUB FATHERS. 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 

AMONG the various dogmas of the Catholic 
Church, there is none which rests on stronger 
Scriptural authority than the doctrine of the Real 
Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist 
So copious, indeed, and so clear are the passages 
of the New Testament which treat of this subject, 
that I am at a loss to determine which to select, 
and find it difficult to compress them all within 
the compass of this short chapter. 

The Evangelists do not always dwell upon the 
same niysteries of religion. Their practice is rather to 
supplement each other, so that one of them will men- 
tion what the others have omitted, or have touched 
in a cursory way. But in regard to the Blessed 
Eucharist, the sacred writers exhibit a marked de- 
viation from this rule. We find that the four 
Evangelists, together with St. Paul, have written 
so explicitly and abundantly on this subject, that 
one of them alone would be amply sufficient to 
prove the dogma, without taking them collectively. 

These five inspired writers gave the weight of 
their individual testimony to the doctrine of the 
Eucharist, because they foresaw — or rather the 
Holy Ghost, speaking through them, foresaw — 
that this great mystery, which exacts so strong 



THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 285 

an exerciise of our faith, and which bids us bow dowa 
our " understanding unto the obedience of Christ," * 
would meet with opposition in the course of time 
from those who would measure the infallible Word 
of God by the erring standard of their own judgment 

I shall select three classes of arguments from the 
New Testament which satisfactorily demonstrate the 
Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, 
The first of these texts speaks of the promise of the 
Eucharist; the second of its institution; and the 
third of its use among the faithful. 

To begin with the words of the promise. While 
Jesus was once preaching near the coast of the Sea 
of Galilee, He was followed, as usual, by an im- 
mense multitude of persons, who were attracted to 
Him by the miracles which He wrought, and the 
words of salvation which He spoke. Seeing that 
the people had no food, He multiplied five loaves 
and two fishes to such an extent as to supply the 
wants of five thousand men, besides women and 
children. 

Our Lord considered the present a favorable 
occasion for speaking of the Sacrament of His body 
and blood, which was to be distributed, not to a few 
thousands, but to millions of souls ; not in one place, 
but everywhere ; not at one time, but all days, to 
the end of the world. "I am," He says to His 
hearers, '* the bread of life. Your fathers did eat 
manna in the desert, and died I am the 

^ II. Cor. X. 5. 



286 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

living 1 read which came down from heaven. If 
any ma a eat of this bread, he shall live forever: 
and the bread which I will give, is My flesh for the 
life of the world. The Jews, therefore, disputed 
among themselves, saying : How can this man give 
us His flesh to eat ? Then Jesus said to them : Amen, 
amen, I say to you : Unless ye eat the flesh of the 
Son of man, and drink His blood, ye shall not have 
life in you. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh 
My blood, hath everlasting life, and I will raise him 
up on the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, 
and My blood is drink indeed." ^ 

If you had been among the number of our 
Saviour's hearers on that occasion, would you not 
have been irresistibly led, by the noble simplicity of 
His words, to understand Him as speaking truly of 
His body and blood ? For His language is not sus- 
ceptible of any other interpretation. 

When our Saviour says to the Jews : " Your 
fathers did eat manna, and died, .... but he that 
eateth this (Eucharistic) bread shall live for ever," 
He evidently wishes to affirm the superiority of the 
food which He would give, over the manna by which 
the children of Israel were nourished. 

Now, if the Eucharist were merely commemorative 
bread and wine, instead of being superior, it would 
be really inferior to the manna ; for the manna was 
supernatural, heavenly, miraculous food, while bread 
and wine are a natural, earthly food. 

1 John vi. 48-56. 



THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 2S7 

But the best and the most reliable interpreters of 
our Saviour's words are certainly the multitude, and 
the disciples who were listening to Him. They all 
understood the import of His language precisely as 
5t is explained by the Catholic Church. They be- 
lieved that our Lord spoke literally of His body and 
blood. The Evangelist tells us that the Jews " dis- 
puted among themselves, saying : How can this man 
give us His flesh to eat ? " And even His disciples, 
though avoiding the disrespectful language of the 
multitude, gave expression to their doubt in this 
milder form: " This saying is hard, and who can 
hear it?"^ So much were they shocked at our 
Saviour's promise, that "after this many of His 
disciples went back, and walked no more with Him."" 
They evidently imfJied, by their words and conduct, 
that they understood Jesus to have spoken literally 
of His flesh ; for, had they interpreted His words in 
a figurative sense, it would not have been a hard 
saying, nor have led them to abandon their Master. 
But, perhaps, I shall be told that the disciples and 
the Jews who heard our Saviour, may have misin- 
terpreted His meaning, by taking His words in the 
literal acceptation, while He may have spoken in a 
figurative Sxinse. This objection is easily disposed 
of. It sometimes happened, indeed, that our Saviour 
was misunderstood by His hearers. On such occa- 
sions, He always took care to remove from their 
mind the wrong impression they had formed, by 

> John vi. 61. « Ibid. vi. 67. 



288 THB FAITK <5F OUR FLTHERS. 

stating His meaning in simpler language. Thus, 
for instance, having told Nicodemus that unle&s a 
man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of 
heaven, and having observed that His meaning 
was not correctly apprehended by this disciple, our 
Saviour added : " Unless a man be born again of 
water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter the king- 
dom of heaven/' ^ And again, when He warned 
His disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees, 
and finding that they had taken an erroneous mean- 
ing from His word, He immediately subjoined that 
they should beware of the doctrine of the Phari- 
sees.^ 

But in the present instance, does our Saviour alter 
His language when He finds His words taken in the 
literal sense? Does He tell His hearers that He 
has spoken figuratively ? Does He soften the tone 
of His expressions ? Far from weakening the force 
of His words, He repeats what He said before, and 
in language more emphatic : " Amen, amen, I say 
unto you, Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, 
and drink His blood, ye shall not have life in you." 

When our Saviour beheld the Jews and many of 
His disciples abandoning Him, turning to the chosen 
twelve. He said feelingly to them : " Will ye also go 
away ? And Simon Peter answered Him : Lord, to 
whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal 
life."' You, my dear reader, must also take your 
choice. Will you reply with the Jews, or with the 

1 John iii. ^ Matt. xvi. » John vi. 68, 69. 



THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 28S 

disciples of little faith, or with Peter? Ah ! let some 
say with the unbelieving Jews: "How can this 
man give us His flesh to eat ? " Let others say with 
the unfaithful disciples: "This is a hard saying. 
Who can hear it ? " But do you say with Peter : 
"Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words 
of eternal life.'* 

So far, I have dwelt on the words of the Promise. 
I shall now proceed to the words of the Institution, 
which are given in almost the same expressions by 
St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke. In the Gos- 
pel according to St. Matthew, we read the following 
narrative : " And while they were at supper, Jesus 
took bread, and blessed and broke, and gave to His^ 
disciples, and said : Take ye and eat. This is My 
body. And taking the chalice. He gave thank&. 
and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this; 
for this is My blood of the New Testament, which 
shall be shed for many unto remission of sins." ^ 

I beg you to recall to mind the former text rela* 
tive to the Promise, and to compare it with this. 
How admirably they fit together, like two links in 
a chain! How faithfully has Jesus fulfilled the 
Promise which He made ! Gould any idea be ex- 
pressed in clearer terms than these : This is My 
body ; this is My blood ? 

And why is the Catholic interpretation of these 
words rejected by Protestants? Is it because tJie 

^ Matt. xxvi. 26-28. 
35 T 



^90 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

text IS in itself obscure and ambiguous? By no 
nrieans ; but simply because they do not compre- 
hend how God could perform so stupendous a mir- 
acle as to give His body and blood for our spiritual 
nourisliment. 

Is, then, the power or the mercy of God to be 
measured by the narrow rule of the human under- 
handing? Is the Almighty not permitted to do 
anything except what we can sanction by our rea- 
son ? Is a thing to be declared impossible, because 
we cannot see its possibility ? 

Has not God created th? heavens and the earth 
md of nothing, by the fiat of His word? What a 
mystery is this ! Does He not hold this world in 
the midst of space? Does He not transform the 
dny blade into nutritious grain ? Did He not feed 
upw^ards of five thousand persons with five loaves 
nud two fishes ? What a mystery ! Did He not 
rain down mar.r.a from heaven for forty years, 
»to feed the children of Israel in the desert? Did 
He not change rivers into blood in Egypt, and water 
into wine at the wedding of Cana ? Does He not 
daily make devout souls the tabernacles of the Holy 
Obost? And shall we have the hardihood to deny, 
in spite of our Lord's plain declaration, that God 
who works these wouders, is able to change bread 
and wine into His body and blood for the food of 
our souls f 

You tell me it is a mystery above your compre 
tension. A mystery, indeed. A religion that rejects 



THE HOLY EUCHAKIST. 291 

a revealed truth because it is incomprehensible, con- 
tains in itself the seeds of dissolution, and will «*nd 
m rationalism. Is not everything around us a mys- 
tery ? Are we not a mystery to ourselves ? Explain 
to me how the blood circulates in your veins ; how 
the soul animates and permeates the whole body ; 
how the hand moves at the will of the soul. Ex- 
plain to me the mystery of life and death. 

Is not the Scripture full of incomprehensible mys- 
teries ? Do you not believe in the Trinity, a mystery 
Qot only above, but apparently contrary to, reason ? 
Do you not admit the Incarnation, — that the help- 
less infant in Bethlehem was God? I understand 
why Rationalists, who admit nothing above their rea- 
son, reject the Real Presence; but that Bible Chris- 
tians should reject it, is to me incomprehensible. 

But do those who reject the Catholic interpreta- 
tion, explain this text to their own satisfaction: 
" This is My body, etc. ? '' Alas ! here their burden 
begins. Only a few years after the early Reformers 
had rejected the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist, 
no fewer than one hundred meanings were given to 
these words : "This is My body.'' It is far easier to 
destroy than to rebuild. 

Let me now offer you some additional reasons in 
favor of the Catholic or literal sense. According to 
a common rule observed in the interpretation of the 
Holy Scripture, we must always take the words 
in their literal signification, unless we have some 
special reason which obliges us to accept them in o 



292 THE I AITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

figurative meaning. Now, in the present instance, 
far from being forced to employ the words above 
quoted in a figurative sense, every circumstance con- 
nected with the delivery of them obliges us to in* 
terpret them in their plain and literal acceptation. 

To whom did our Saviour address these words? 
At what time and under what circumstances did He 
speak? He was addressing His few chosen disciples, 
to whom He promised to speak in future, not in 
parables nor in obscure language, but in the words 
of simple truth. He uttered these words the night 
before His Passion. And when will a person use 
plainer speech than at the point of death ? 

These words : '' This is My body ; this is My 
blood," embodied a new dogma of faith which all 
were obliged to believe, and a new law which all 
were obliged to practise. They were the last will 
and testament of our blessed Saviour. What lan- 
guage should be plainer than that which contains an 
article of faith ? What words should be more free 
from tropes and figures than those which enforce a 
divine law? But, above all, where will you find 
any words more plain and unvarnished than those 
contained in a last will ? 

Now, if we understand these words in their plain 
and obvious, that is, in their Catholic, sense, no lan- 
guage can be more simple and intelligible. But if 
we depart from the Catholic interpretation, then it is 
impossible to attach to them any reasonable mean- 
ing. 



THE HOLY EUCHARIST. 29S 

We now arrive at the third class of Scripture 
feexts which have reference to the use or reception 
of the Sacrament among the faithful. 

When Jesus, a-s you remember, instituted the 
Eucharist at His last Supper, He commanded His 
disciples and their successors to renew, till the end 
of time, in remembrance of Him, the ceremony 
which He performed. What I have done, do ye alsQ 
" for a commemoration of Me." ^ 

We have a very satisfactory means of ascertaining 
the Apostolic belief in the doctrine of the Eucharist, 
by examining what the Apostles did in commemora- 
tion of our Lord. Did they bless and distribute 
mere bread and wine to the faithful? or did they 
. consecrate, as they believed, the body and blood of 
Jesus Christ ? If they professed to give only bread 
and wine in memory of our Lord's Supper, then the 
Catholic interpretation falls to the ground. If, od 
the contrary, we find the Apostles and their suc- 
cessors, from the first to the nineteenth century, pro- 
fessing to consecrate and dispense the body and 
blood of Christ, and doing so by virtue of the com- 
mand of their Saviour, then the Catholic interpreta- 
tion alone is admissible. 

Let St. Paul be our first witness. Represent your- 
self as a member of the primitive Christian congre- 
gation assembled in Corinth. A letter is read from 
the Apostle Paul, in which the following words occur 

• Luke xxii. 19. 
25* 



294 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS, 

" Tlie chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not 
the communion of the blood of Christ? and the 
bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the 
body of the Lord ? . . . For, I have received of the 
Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the 
Lord Jesus, on the night in which He was betrayed, 
took bread, and giving thanks, brake it, and said : 
Take and eat : this is My body which shall be de- 
livered for you. This do for the commemoration of 
Me. In like manner also the chalice, after the sup- 
per, saying: This cup is the New Covenant in My 
blood. This do ye, as often as ye shall drink, for 
the commemoration of Me. For, as often as ye 
shall eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye shall 
show the death of the Lord until He come. There- 
fore, whoever shall eat this bread, or drink the 
chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall he guilty of the 
body and of the blood of the Lord, But let a man 
prove himself; and so let him eat of that bread and 
drink of the chalice. For, he who eateth and drink- 
eth unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to 
himself, not discerning the body of the LordJ' ^ 

Could St. Paul express more clearly his belief in 
the Real Presence than he has done here? The 
Apostle distinctly affirms that the chalice and bread 
which he and his fellow Apostles bless, is a partici- 
pation of the body and blood of Christ. And surely 
uo one could be said to partake of that divine food 
by eating ordinary bread. Mark these words of 

1 1. Cor. X. 16, and xi. 23> 29. 



THE HOLY EirCHARIST. 206 

the Apostle : Whosoever shall take the Sacrament 
unworthily, '^ shall be guilty of the body and blood 
of the Lord." What a heinous crime! For, these 
words signify that he who receives the Sacrament 
unworthily, shall be guilty of the sin of high treascm, 
and of shedding the blood of his Lord in vain. But 
how could he be guilty of a crime so enormous, if 
he had taken in the Eucharist only a particle of 
bread and wine? Would a man be accused of 
homicide, in this commonwealth, if he were to offer 
violence to the statue or painting of the governor? 
Certainly not. In like manner, St. Paul would not 
be so unreasonable as to declare a man guilty of 
trampling on the blood of his Saviour, by drinking 
in an unworthy manner a little wine in memory 
of Him. 

Study also these words : " He who eateth and 
drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh condem- 
nation to himself, not discerning the body of the 
Lord,^^ The unworthy receiver is condemned for 
not recognizing or discerning in the Eucharist the 
body of the Lord. How could he be blamed for 
not discerning the body of the Lord, if there were 
only bread and wine before him? Hence, if the 
words of St. Paul are figuratively understood, they 
are distorted, forced, and exaggerated terms, with 
out meaning or truth. But, if they are taken lit 
erally, they are full of sense and of awful signifi 
cance, and an eloquent commentary on the words ] 
have q\ioted from the Evangelist. 



296 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

The Fathers of the Church, without an exception, 
re-echo the language of the Apostle of the Gentiles, 
by proclaiming the Real Presence of our Lord in 
the Eucharist. I have counted the names of sixty- 
three Fathers and eminent ecclesiastical writers 
flourishing between the first and the sixth century, 
alii of whom proclaim the Real Presence — some by 
62 plaining the mystery, others by thanking God for 
this inestimable gift, and others by exhorting the 
fa.thful to its worthy reception. From such a host 
of witnesses, I can select here only a few at random. 

St. Ignatius, a disciple of St. Peter, speaking of a 
Be*3t called Gnostics, says : " They abstain from the 
Eacharist and prayer, because they confess not that 
the Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ." 

St. Justin Martyr, in an apology to the Emperor 
A Qtoninus, writes in the second century : " We do 
?ii*t receive these things as common bread and drink ; 
btit as Jesus Christ our Saviour was made flesh by 
tie word of God, even so we have been taught that 
the Eucharist is both the flesh and the blood of the same 
incarnate Jesus ^ 

Origen (third century) writes : " If thou wilt go 
up with Christ to celebrate the Passover, He will 
give to thee that bread of benediction, His own body, 
and will vouchsafe to thee His owm blood." 

St. Cyril, of Jerusalem, (fourth century) instruct- 
ing the Catechumens, observes : " He Himself hav- 
ing declared. This is My body, who shall dare ta 
doubt henceforward ? And He havino- said, Thii 



THE HOLY EUCHARIST. SO"? 

M My blood, who shall ever doubt, saying : This is 
not His blood? He once at Cana turned water 
into wine, which is akin to blood ; and is He un- 
deserving of belief, when He turned wine into 
blood ? " He seems to be arguing with modern un- 
belief 

St. John Chrysostom, who died in the beginning 
of the fifth century, preaching on the Eucharist, 
says : " If thou wert indeed incorporeal. He would 
have delivered to thee those same incorporeal gifts 
without covering. But since the soul is united to 
the body. He delivers to thee in things perceptibk 
to the senses, the things to be apprehended by 
the understanding. How many nowadays say : 
'Would that we could look upon His (Jesus') 
form, His figure. His raiment. His shoes. Lo! 
thou seest Him, touchest Him, eatest Him.' " 

St. Auguistine (fifth century), addressing the 
newly-baptized, says : " I promised you a discourse 
wherein I would explain the sacrament of the 
Lord'a table, which sacrament you even now behold, 
and of which you were last night made partakers. 
You ought to know what you have received. The 
bread which you see on the altar, after being sanc- 
tified by the word of God, is the body of Christ 
That chalice, after being sanctified by the word of 
Go^^ is the blood of Christ."^ 

Put why multiply authorities? At the present 

J See Faith of Catholics, Vol. II. 



298 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

day, every Christian communion throughout the 
world, with the sole exception of Protestants, pro- 
claims its belief in the Real Presence of Christ in 
the Sacrament. 

The Nestorians and Eutychians, who separated 
from the Catholic Church in the fifth century, admit 
the corporeal presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. 
Such also is the faith of the Greek church, which 
seceded from us a thousand years ago, as well as 
of the present Russian church. And such is the 
doctrine of the schismatic Copts, the Syrians, 
Chaldeans, Armenians, and, in short, of all the 
Oriental sects no longer in communion with the 
£es of Rome. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

COMMUNION UNDER ONE KIND. 

OUR Saviour gave communion under both forms 
of bread and wine, to His Apostles at the last 
Supper. Officiating bishops and priests are always 
required, except on Good Friday, to communicate 
under both kinds. But even the clergy of every 
rank, including the Pope, receive only of the con- 
secrated bread, unless when they celebrate Mass. 

The Church teaches that Christ is contained 
whole and entire under each species; so that who- 
ever communicates under the form of bread or 
of wine, receives not a mutilated Sacrament or a 



COMMUNION UNDER ONE KIND. 299 

divided Saviour, but shares in the whole Saeramenl 
as fully as if he participated in both forms. Hence, 
the layman who receives the consecrated bread, par- 
takes as copiously of the body and blood of Christ aa 
the officiating priest who receives both consecrated 
elements. 

Our Lord says: "I am the living bread which 
came down from heaven. If any man eat of thia 
bread, he shall live forever ; and the bread which 
I will give is My flesh, for the life of the world. . . 
He that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me 
He that eateth this bread, shall live forever." ^ 

From this passage, it is evident that whoever par- 
takes of the form of bread, partakes of the living 
flesh of Jesus Christ, which is inseparable from His 
blood, and which, being now in a glorious state, 
cannot be divided ; for, " Christ rising from the 
dead, dieth now no more." ^ Our Lord, in His 
words quoted, makes no reference to the sacramental 
cup, but only to the Eucharistic bread, to which He 
ascribes all the efficacy which is attached to com- 
munion under both kinds, viz., union with Him, 
spiritual life, eternal salvation. 

St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says : " Who- 
soever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of 
the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the bodj 
and of the blood of the Lord."'* The Apostle here 
plainly declares that, by an unworthy participation 

• John vi. 51, and seq. * Eom. vi. 9. 

* I. Cor. xi. 27. 



800 I HE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

in the Lord's Supper, under the form of either bread 
or wine, we profane both the body and the blood of 
Christ. How could this be so, unless Christ is 
entirely contained under each species? So forcibly, 
indeed, did the Apostle assert the Catholic doctrine, 
that the Protestant translators have perverted the 
text by rendering it : " Whosoever shall eat this 
bread and drink the chalice," substituting and for 
or, in contradiction to the Greek original, of which 
the Catholic version is an exact translation. 

It is also the received doctrine of the Fathers, 
that the Eucharist is contained in all its integrity 
liither in the consecrated bread or in the chalice. 
%i, Augustine who may be taken as a sample of the 
rest, says that " each one receives Christ the Lord 
entire under each particle." ^ 

Luther himself, even after his revolt, was so clear- 
1^ convinced of this truth, that he was an uncom- 
promising advocate of communion under one kind. 
"If any Council," he says, "should decree or permit 
both species, we would by no means acquiesce ; but, 
in spite of the Council and its statute, we would use 
one form, or neither, and never both." ^ 

Leibnitz, the eminent Protestant divine, observes: 
''It cannot be denied that Christ is received entire by 
virtue of concomitance, under each species; nor is 
His flesh separated from His blood." ^ 

As the same virtue is contained in the Sacrament, 

^ Aug. De con sec. dist. ^ De formula MLssae. 

3 Systema TheoL, p. 250. 



COMMUNION UNDER ONE KIND. 301 

whether administered in one or both forms, tlie 
faithful gain nothing by receiving under both kinds, 
and lose nothing by receiving under one form. Con- 
sequently, we nowhere find our Saviour requiring 
the communion to be administered to the faithful 
uaider both forms; but He has left this mattei to 
be regulated by the wisdom and discretion of the 
Church, as He has done with regard to the manner 
of administering Baptism. 

Our Redeemer, it is true, has said : " Drink ye 
all of this.'' But it should be remembered that 
these words were addressed not to the people at 
large, but only to the Apostles, who alone were ah*o 
commanded, on the same occasion, to consecrate Hi* 
body and blood in remembrance of Him. Now ^^•ft 
have no more right to infer that the faithful ai^ 
obliged to drink of the cup, because the ApostU*-* 
were commanded to drink of it, than we have \c 
suppose that the laity are required or allowed t-'-^ 
consecrate the bread and wine, because the powe' 
of doing so was at the last Supper conferred on the 
Apostles. 

It is also true that our Lord s^iid to the people; 
" Unless ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, an:r 
drink His blood, ye shall not have life in you." But 
this command is litentlly fulfilled by the laity when 
they partake of the consecrated bread, which, as wo 
have seen, contains Christ the Lord in all His integ- 
rity. Hence, if our Saviour has said : ** Whoso 
eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath ever- 
26 



802 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

lasting life," He has also said : " The bread which I 
will give is My flesh, for the life of the world." 

It seems to me that the charge of withholding the 
cup comes with very bad grace from Protestant 
teachers, who destroy the whole intrinsic virtue of 
the Sacrament by giving to their followers nothing 
but bread and wine. The difference between them 
and us lies in this, that under one form we give the 
substance, while they under two forms confessedly 
give only the shadoiv. 

In examining the history of the Church on the 
r.ubject, we find that up to the twelfth century, com- 
munion was sometimes distributed in one form, some- 
limes in another, commonly in both. 

1. St. Luke tells us that the converts of Jerusa- 
lem *^ were persevering in the doctrine of the Apos- 
Ues, and in the communication of bread (as the 
Eucharist was sometimes familiarly called), and in 
prayer." ^ And again he speaks of the Christian 
disciples assembled at Troas on the Lord's day, '* to 
break bread." ^ We are led to conclude, from these 
passages, that the Apostles sometimes distributed the 
communion in the form of bread alone, as no refer- 
ence is made to the cuj^. 

It was certainly the custom to carry to the sick 
only the consecrated host. And surely, if there is 
any period of life when nothing should be neglected 
which conduces to salvation, it is the time of ap- 
proaching death. Eusebius tells us that the aged 

^ Acts ii. 42. » Ibid. xx. 7. 



COMMTJNION XTN^DER ONE KIND. 303 

Serapion received only the sacred bread at the hands 
of the priest. And in the life of St. Ambrose, we 
are told that in his last illness the consecrated host 
alone was given to him. 

The Christians in time of persecution, confessors 
of the faith confined in prison, travellers on their 
journey, soldiers before engaging in battle, and 
hermits living in the desert, were permitted to keep 
with them, and to fortify themselves with, the con- 
secrated bread, as Tertullian, Cyprian, Basil, Am- 
brose, and other Fathers of the Church testify. 

Moreover, in the Mass of the Presanetifiedy cele- 
brated in the Latin church on Good Friday only, 
and in the Greek church on every day in Lent, 
except Saturdays and Sundays, the officiating Priest 
receives the consecrated bread alone.^ 

In all these instances, the communicants never 
doubted that they received the Lord's Supper in its 
integrity. And surely the conscientious guides of 
the faith would sooner withhold altogether the sacred 
host from their flocks, than permit them to partake 
of a mutilated Sacrament. 

2. In the primitive days of the Church, the Holy 
Communion used to be imparted to infants, but only 
in the form of wine. The priest dipped his finger 
in the consecrated chalice, and gave it to be sucked 
by the infant. This custom prevails to this day 
among the schismatic Christians of all the Oriental 

1 Alzog's Hist., Vol. I., p. 721. 



8C4 THE FAJTH OF OUE FATHERS. 

rites. In some instances, the sacred host, saturated 
in the cup, is given to the child.* 

3. Public communion was, indeed, usually ad* 
ministered in the first ages under both forms. The 
faithful, however, had the privilege of dispensing 
with the cup, and of partaking only of the bread, 
until the time of Pope Gelasius, in the fifth century, 
when this general, but hitherto optional, practice of 
receiving under both kinds was enforced as a law 
for the following reason : 

The Manichean sect abstained from the cup on 
the erroneous assumption that the use of wine was 
Bxnful. Pope Gelasius, in order to detect and con- 
-tiemn the error of those sectaries, left it no longer 
optional with the faithful to receive under one or 
«»oth forms, but ordained that all should communi- 
c^ate under both kinds. 

This law continued in force for several ages, but 
towards the thirteenth century, for various causes, 
•t, had gradually grown into disuse, with the tacit 
fipproval of the Church. The Council of Constance, 
which convened in 1414, established a law requiring 
the faithful to communicate under the form of bread 
only; and in taking this step, the Council was actu- 
ated both by reasons of propriety and of religion. 

The wide-spread diffusion of Christianity through- 
out the world had rendered it very difficult to supply 
all the faithful with the consecrated wiue. Such 
inconvenience is scarcely felt by Protestant com- 

^ Denziger Rit. Orientales. 



COMMUNION UNDER ONE KIND. 305 

municants, whose numbers are limited, and who 
ordinarily communicate only on certain Sundays of 
each month. The Catholics of the world, on the con- 
trary, number about two hundred and twenty-five mil- 
lions ; and as communion is administered to some Of 
the faithful almost every day, in most of our churches 
and chapels, and as the annual communions in every 
Parish church are generally at least twice as numer- 
ous as its aggregate Catholic population, the sum 
total of annual communions throughout the globe 
may be estimated in round numbers at not less than 
five hundred millions. What efibrts would be re- 
quired to procure altar-wine for such a multitude? 
In my missionary journeys through North Carolina, 
I have often found it no easy task to provide for the 
celebration of Mass a sufficiency of pure wine, which 
is essential for the validity of the sacrifice. This, 
embarrassment would be increased beyond measure, 
if the cup had to be extended to the laity, and still 
more so in cold regions, where the cultivation of the 
grape is unknown, and where imported wine is ex- 
clusively used.^ 

It would be very distasteful, besides, for so many 

^ While Protestants consider the cup as an indispensable 
part of the communion service, they do not seem, in many 
instances, to be very particular as to what the cap will con- 
tain. I am credibly informed, that in a certain Episcopal 
church in Virginia, communicants partake of the juice of the 
blackberry, instead of the juice of the grape. And the New 
York Independent, of September 21, 1876, relates the follow- 
ing incideU ; " A late English traveller found a Baptist mis- 
26* U 



806 THE FAITH OF OUB FATHERS. 

comnmnicants to drink successively out of the same 

chalice, which would be unavoidable, if the Sacra- 
ment were administered in both forms. And in our 
larger churches, where communion is distributed 
every Sunday to hundreds, there would be great 
clanger of spilling a portion of the consecrated 
chalice, and of thus exposing it to profanation. 

But above all, as the Church in the fifth century, 
through her chief Pastor, Gelasius^ enforced the use 
Dt* the cup, to expose and reprobate the error of the 
M'anichees, who imagined that the use of wine was 
sinful ; so in the fifteenth century she withdrew the 
cup, to condemn the novelties of the Calixtines, who 
taught that the consecrated wine was necessary for 
a valid communion. And should circumstances ever 
justify or demand a change from the present disci- 
spline, the Church will not hesitate to restore the cup 
to the laity. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 

SACRIFICE is the oblation or oflfering made to 
God of some sensible object, with the destruc- 
tion or change of the, object, to denote that God is 
the Author of life and death. Thus, in the Old 

aion church, in far-off Burmah, using for the communion 
service Bass's pale ale instead of wine. The opening of the 
frothing bottle on the communion table seemed not quite 
decorous to the visitor, who presented the pastoi with a half- 
iozen bottles of claret for sacramental use." 



THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 307 

Law, before th<? coming of Christ, when the He- 
brew people wished to offer sacrifice to God, they 
took a lamb, or some other animal, which they 
slew, and burned its flesh, acknowledging by this 
act that the Lord was the supreme Master of life 
and death. The ancients offered to God two kinds 
of sacrifices, viz., living creatures, such as bulls, 
lambs, and birds ; and inanimate objects, such as 
wheat and barley, and, in general, the first fruits 
of the earth. 

All nations, whether Jews, idolaters, or Christians, 
except Mahometans and modern Protestants, have 
made sacrifice their principal act of worship. If 
you go back to the very dawn of creation, you will 
find the children of Adam offering sacrifices to God. 
Abel offered to the Lord the firstlings of his flock, 
and Cain offered of the fruits of the earth. ^ 

When Noe and his family are rescued from the 
deluge which had spread over the face of the earth, 
his first act on issuing from the ark, when the waters 
disappear, is to offer holocausts to the Lord, in thanks- 
giving for his preservation.^ Abraham, the great 
father of the Jewish race, offered victims to the Al- 
mighty at His express command.^ And wo read 
that Job was accustomed to offer holocausts to the 
Lord, to propitiate His favor in behalf of his chil- 
dren, and to obtain forgiveness for the sins they 
might have committed.* 

When Jehovah delivered to Moses the written 

^ Gen. IV. *lbid. viii. ^Ibid. xv. *JobL 



SOS THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

law on Mount Sinai, He gave His servant the most 
minute details with regard to all the ceremonies to 
be observed in the sacrifices which were to be of- 
fered to Him. He prescribed the kind of victims to 
be immolated, the qualifications of the priests who 
were to minister at the altar, and the place and 
manner in which the victims were to be offered. 
Hence, it was the custom of the Jewish priests to 
slay every day two lambs, as a sacrifice to God ;^ 
and in doing this they were prefiguring the great 
jiacrifice of the New Law, in which we daily offer 
up on the altar " the Lamb of God, who taketb 
away the sins of the world.'' 

In a word, in all their public calamities — whenever 
they were threatened by their enemies ; whenever 
they were about to engage in war ; whenever they 
were visited by any plague or pestilence — the Jews 
had recourse to God by solemn sacrifices. And like 
the Catholic Church of the present day, they had 
sacrifices not only for the living, but also for the 
dead. For, we find in sacred Scripture that Judas 
Machabeus ordered sacrifice to be offered up for 
the souls of his men who were slain in battle.^ 

And we find sacrifices existing not only among 
the Jews who worshipped the true God, but also 
among Pagan and idolatrous nations. 

No matter how confused or imperfect or errone- 
ous was their knowledge of the Deity, still, the Pagan 
nations retained sufficient vestiges of primitive tra- 

•Numb, xxviii. ^11. Mac. xii. 43-46. 



THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 309 

dition t) admonish them of their obligation of ap- 
peasing the anger and invoking the blessings of the 
Divinity by victims and sacrifices. Plutarch, an 
ancient writer who lived in the second century, sa}'s 
of these heathen people: "You may find cities with- 
out walls, without literature, and without the arts 
and sciences of civilized life ; but you will never find 
a city without priests and altars, or which has not 
sacrifices offered to the gods." 

The Indians of our own country were accustomed 
to offer sacrifice to the Great Spirit, as Fath-ei 
Jogues and other pioneer missionaries inform us. 
But all those ancient sacrifices were only the types 
and figures of the great sacrifice of the New Law, 
from which they derived all their efficacy; just an 
the Old Law itself was the type of the New Law oi 
grace. And because the ancient sacrifices w^ere but 
figures aiid shadows, they were imperfect and insuffi- 
cient; for, "it is impossible/' says St. Paul, "thai, 
by the blood of oxen and of goats sins should be, 
taken away. Wherefore, when He (Jesus) cometh 
into the world. He saith : Sacrifice and oblation Thou 
wouldst not, but a body Thou hast fitted to M.e. 
Holocausts for sin did not please Thee. Then said 
I: Behold I come." ^ As if He should say: The 
blood of oxen and of goats is not sufficient to ap^ 
pease Thy vengeance, and to cleanse Thy people from 
their sins ; therefore I come, that I may offer Myself 
an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the world. 

1 Heb. X. 4-7. 



310 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

The Prophet Isaiah declared that the Jewish 
sacrifices had become displeasing to God, and would 
be abolished. " To what purpose/' says the Lord 
by His prophet, "do you ofier Me the multitude 
of your victims? ... I desire not holocausts of 
rams, . . . and blood of calves and lambs and buck- 
goats. . . . Offer sacrifice no more in vain." ^ 

But did God, in rejecting the Jewish oblations, 
intend to abolish sacrifices altogether? By no 
rneans. On the contrary, He clearly predicts, by 
the mouth of the Prophet Malachiah, that the im- 
m )lations of the Jews would be succeeded by a clean 
victim, which would be offered up not on a single 
a! tar, as was the case in Jerusalem, but in every part 
ol the known world. Listen to the significant words 
acidressed to the Jews by this prophet : " I have no 
pi sasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will 
net receive a gift of your hand. For, from the ris- 
iii^ of the sun, even to the going down, My Name is 
gi eat among the Gentiles, and in every place there 
is sacrifice, and there is offered to My Name a clean 
oblation ; for, My Name is great among the Gentiles, 
saith the Lord of hosts." ^ The prophet here clearly 
foretells that an acceptable oblation would be offered 
to God not by Jews, but by Gentiles ; not merely in 
Jerusalem, but in every place from the rising to the 
setting of the sun. These prophetic words must 
have been fulfilled. Where shall we find the fulfil- 
ment of the prophecy? 

J Isaiah i. 11-13. » Mai. i. 10, 11. 



THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 31.1 

We may divide the inhabitants of the world into 
five different classes of people, professing different 
forms of religion, — Pagans, Jews, Mahometans, 
Protestants, and Catholics. Among which of these 
shall we find the clean oblation of which the prophet 
speaks ? Not among the Pagan nations ; for they 
worship false gods, and consequently cannot have 
any sacrifice pleasing to the Almighty. Not among 
the Jews ; for they have ceased to sacrifice alto- 
gether, and the words of the prophet apply not to 
the Jews, but to the Gentiles. Not among the 
Mahometans ; for they also reject sacrifices. Not 
among any of the Protestant sects ; for they all 
distinctly repudiate sacrifices. Therefore, it is only 
in the Catholic Church that is fulfilled this gloriou« 
prophecy ; for, whithersoever you go, you will fin<f 
the clean oblation offered on Catholic altars. li' 
you travel from America to Europe, to Oceanica, to 
Africa, or Asia, you will see our altars erected, and 
our priests daily fulfilling the words of the prophet, 
by offering the " clean oblation " of the body and 
blood of Christ. 

This oblation of the New Law is commonly called 
the Mass. The word Mass is derived by some from 
the Hebrew term Missach (Deut. xvi.), which meaias 
a free offering. Others derive it from the woi'd 
Missa, which the priest uses when he announces to 
the congregation that divine service is ovjr. It is 
an expression indelibly marked on our English 



812 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

tongue from the origin of our language, and we 
find it embodied in such words as Candlemas, 
Michael-mas, Martin-mas, and ChristwMS. 

The sacrifice of the Mass is the consecration of 
the bread and wine into the body and blood of 
Christ, and the oblation of this body and blood 
ba God, by the ministry of the priest, for a per- 
petual memorial of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. 
The sacrifice of the Mass is identical with that of 
the cross, both having the same victim and High 
Priest — Jesus Christ. 

The only difiference consists in the manner of the 
/>blation. Christ was offered up on the cross in a 
bloody manner, and in the Mass He is offered up 
m an unbloody manner. On the cross He pur- 
chased our ransom, and in the Eucharistic sacri- 
fice the price of that ransom is applied to our 
suuls. Hence, all the efficacy of the Mass is de- 
rived from the sacrifice of Calvary. 

It was on the night before He suffered that our 
Lord Jesus Christ instituted the sacrifice of the 
New Law. "Jesus," says St. Paul, "the night in 
which He was betrayed, took bread, and giving 
thanks, broke and said : Take ye and eat ; this is 
My body which shall be delivered for you. This 
do for the commemoration of Me. In like man- 
ner also the chalice, after He had supped, saying : 
This chalice is the new testament in My blood. 
This do ye, as often as you shall drink, for the 
commemoration of Me; for as often as ye shall 



THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 313 

eat this bread, and drink the chalice, ye shall 
show the death of the Lord until He come." ^ 

From these words we learn that the principal 
motive which our Saviour had in view, in insti- 
tuting the sacrifice of the altar, was to keep us in 
perpetual remembrance of His sufferings and death. 
He wished that the scene of Calvary should ever ap- 
pear in panoramic view before our eyes, and that our 
hearts and memories and intellects should be filled 
with the thoughts of His Passion. He knew well 
that this would be the best means of winning our 
love, and exciting sorrow for sin in our soul. There- 
fore, He designed that in every church throughout 
the world an altar should be erected, to serve as 9 
monument of His mercies to His people, as the chil- 
dren of Israel erected a monument, on crossing tha 
Jordan, to commemorate His mercies to His choscii 
people. Hence, the Mass is truly the memorial sei^ 
vice of Christ's Passion. 

In compliance with the command of our Lord, the 
adorable sacrifice of the altar has been daily renewed 
in the Church, from the death of our Saviour till the 
present time, and will be perpetuated till time shall 
be no more. 

In the Acts, it is said that while Saul and others 
were ministering (or, as the Greek text expresses it, 
Bcwrificing) to the Lord, and fasting, the Holy Spirit 
said to them : " Set apart for Me Saul and Barna- 

^I. Cor. xi. 23-26. 
27 



314 THE FAITH OF O^^P R^ATHERS. 

bas." St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, fre- 
quently alludes to the sacrifice of the Mass. " We 
have an altar," he says, " whereof they cannot eat 
who serve the tabernacle." ^ The Apostle here 
plainly declares that the Christian church has 
its altars as well as the Jewish synagogue. An 
altar necessarily supposes a sacrifice, without which 
it has no meaning. The Apostle also observes that 
the priesthood of the New Law was substituted for 
that of the Old Law.^ Now, the principal ofiice 
of priests has always been to offer sacrifice. Priest 
and sacrifice are as closely identified as judge and 
cou rt. 

St. Paul, after David, calls Jesus " a priest for- 
ever according to the order of Melchisedech."^ He 
is named a priest, because He ofiers sacrifice ; a 
priest forever, becar/so His sacrifice is perpetual ; 
according to the order of Melcliisedech, because He 
ofiers up conpecrated bread and wine, which were 
i:)refigured by the bread and wine ofiered by " Mel- 
chisedech, the priest of the Most High God."* 

Tradition, with its hundred tongues, proclaims the 
perpetual oblation of the sacrifice of the Mass, from 
the time of the Apostles to our own days. If we 
consult the Fathers of the Church, who have stood 
like faithful sentinels on the watch-towers of Israel, 
guarding with a jealous eye the deposit of faith, 
and who have been the faithful witnesses of their 

^ Heb. xiii. 10. ^ n^ij, ^ij^ 12. s pg ^ix. 4 ; Heb. v. 6. 
* Gen. xiv. 18. 



THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. S15 

own times and the recorders of the past , if we con- 
sult the General Councils, at which were assembled 
the venerable hierarchy of Christendon^., they will 
al] tell us, with one voice, that the sacrifice of the 
Mass was the centre of their religion, and the ac- 
knowledged institution of Jesus Christ. 

Another remarkable evidence in favor of the 
divine institution of the Mass, is furnished by the 
Nestorians and Eutychians who separated from the 
Catholic Church in the fifth century, and who still 
exist in Persia, and in other parts of the East, as 
well as by the Greek schismatics who severed their 
connection with the Church in the ninth century. 
All these sects, as well as the numerous other sects 
scattered over the East, retain to this day the obla- 
tion of the Mass in their daily service. As these 
Christian communities have had no communication 
with the Catholic Church since the period of their 
separation from her, they could not, of course, have 
borrowed from her the doctrine of the Eucharistic 
sacrifice, and consequently they must have received 
it from the same source from which the Church de- 
rived it, viz., from the Apostles themselves. 

But of all proofs in favor of the Apostolic ori- 
gin of the sacrifice of the Mass, the most striking 
and the most convincing is found in the Liturgies 
of the Church. The Liturgy is the established 
Ritual of the Church. It is the collection of the 
authorized prayers of divine worship. These prayers 
are fixed and immovable. Among others, we havo 



316 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

the Liturgy of Jerusalem, ascribed to the Apostle 
St. James ; the Liturgy of Alexandria, attributed 
to St Mark the Evangelist, and the Liturgy of 
Rome, referred to St. Peter. There are various 
other Liturgies accredited to the Apostles or to 
their immediate successors. Now I wish to call 
your attention to this remarkable fact, that all these 
Liturgies, though compiled by different persons, at 
different times, and in various places, and in divers 
languages, contain, without exception, in clear and 
precise language, the prayers to be said at the 
celebration of Mass; prayers in substance the 
same as those found in our Prayer-Books at the 
Canon of the Mass. 

We cannot account for this wonderful uniformity^ 
f^xcept by supposing that the doctrine respecting the 
Mass was received by the Apostles from the com- 
mon fountain of Christianity — Jesus Christ Himself. 

It was such facts as these that opened the eyes 
of those eminent English divines who, during the 
present century, have abandoned heresy and schism 
and rich preferments, and who have embraced the 
Catholic faith, though, by taking such a step, they 
had to sacrifice all that was dear to them on earth. 

The following passages from St. Paul's Epistle to 
the Hebrews are sometimes urged as an argument 
against the sacrifice of the Mass : " Christ, . . . 
neither by the blood of goats, or of calves, but by 
His own blood, entered once into the Holies, having 
obtained eternal redemption." " Nor yet that He 



THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 317 

ghould offer Himself often, as the high priest enter- 
eth into the Holies every year." ^ Again : '* Every 
priest standeth, indeed, daily ministering, and often 
offering the same sacrifices, which can never take 
away sins ; but this Man, offering one sacrifice for 
sin, forever sitteth at the right hand of God." ^ 

St. Paul says that Jesus was offered once. How 
then cau we offer Him daily? I answer, that 
Jesus was offered once in a bloody manner, and it is 
of this sacrifice that the Apostle speaks. But in 
the sacrifice of the Mass He is offered up in an un- 
bloody manner. Though He is daily ofiered on ten 
thousand altars, the sacrifice is the same as that of 
Calvary, having the same High Priest and victim — 
Jesus Christ. The object of St. Paul is to contrast 
the sacrifice of the New Law, which has only one 
victim, with the sacrifices of the Old Law, where the 
victims were many ; and to show the insufficiency 
of the ancient sacrifices and the all-sufficiency of 
the sacrifice of the new dispensation. 

But if the sacrifice of the cross is all-sufficient, 
what need then, you will say, is there of a commemo- 
rative sacrifice of the Mass ? I would ask a Prot- 
estant in return, Why do you pray, and go to church, 
and why were you baptized, and receive Communion, 
and the rite of Confirmation? What is the use of 
all these exercises, if the sacrifice of the cross is all- 
sufficient? You will tell me that in all these ac« 

^Heb. ix. 25. >Ibid. X. il, x2. 

27* 



SI 8 THE FAITH OF OUK FATHERS. 

yon apply to yourself the merits of Christ's Passion. 
I will tell you, in like manner, that in the sacrifice 
of the Mass I apply to myself the merits of the 
sacrifice of the cross, from which the Mass derives 
ail its efficacy. Christ, indeed, by His death, made 
a full atonement for our sins. But He has not re- 
leased us from the obligation of co-operating with 
B.im by applying His merits to our souls. And 
^^hat better or more efficacious way can we have of 
participating in His merits, than by assisting at the 
ss, orifice of the altar, where we vividly recall to mind 
Eis sufferings, where Calvary is represented before 
Ur?, where " we show the death of the Lord until He 
come,'' and where we draw abundantly to our souls 
fhe fruit of His Passion, by drinking of the same 
b iood that was shed on the cross ? 

In the Old Law there were different kinds of sacri- 
fices offered up for different purposes. There were 
vsiicrifices of praise and thanksgiving to God for His 
benefits; sacrifices of propitiation to implore His 
forgiveness for the sins of the people ; and sacrifices 
of supplication to ask His blessing and protection. 
The sacrifice of the Mass fulfils all these ends. It 
is a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, a sacrifice 
f f propitiation and of supplication ; ana hence that 
valued book, the " Following of Christ,'^ says that 
" when a Priest celebrates Mass, he honors God, he 
rejoices the angels, he edifies the Church, he helps 
the living, he obtains rest for the dead, and makes 
bimself a partaker of all that is good." To form an 



THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 31S 

adequate idea of the efficacy of the divine sacrifice 
of the Mass, we have only to bear in mind the 
victim that is offered — Jesus Christ, the Son of the 
living God. 

1. The Mass is a sacrifice of praise and thanks- 
giving. If all human beings in this world, and all 
living creatures, and all inanimate objects were ccl- 
lected together and burned as a holocaust to the 
Lord, they would not confer as much praise on the 
Almighty as a single Eucharistic sacrifice ; because 
these earthly creatures, how numerous and excellent, 
soever, are finite and imperfect ; while the offering 
made in the Mass is of infinite value, for, it is ou^ 
Lord Jesus, the acceptable Lamb without blemish, 
the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased , 
and who " is always heard on account of His rever 
ence." 

With what awe and grateful love should we assise 
at this sacrifice! The angels were present at 
Calvary. Angels also are present at the Mass. If 
we cannot assist with the seraphic love and rapt at- 
tention of the angelic spirits, let us worship, at least, 
with the simple devotion of the shepherds of Bethle- 
hem, and the unswerving faith of the Magi. Let 
us offer to our God the golden gift of a heart full of 
love, and the incense of our praise and adoration, 
repeating often during the holy oblation the words 
of the Psalmist : " The mercies of the Lord I will 
«ing forever." 

2. The Mass is also a sacrifice of propitiatioiL 



820 THE FAITH OF 0I7R FATHERS. 

Jesus daily pleads our cause, in this divine oblation, 
before our heavenly Father. " If any man sin," says 
St. John, " we have an Advocate with the Father, 
Jesus Christ the just; and He is the propitiation 
for our sins ; and not for ours only, but also for 
those of the whole world.'' ^ And hence the Priest, 
whenever he offers up the holy sacrifice, recites this 
prayer at the offertory : " Receive, O holy Father, 
almighty, eternal God, this immaculate victim 
which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer to Thee, my 
living and true God, for my innumerable sins, of- 
fences, and negligences, for all here present, and for 
all the faithful living and dead, that it may avail 
me and them to life everlasting.'' 

Whenever, therefore, we assist at Mass, let us 
unite with Jesus Christ in imploring the mercy of 
God for our sins. Let us represent to ourselves the 
Mass as another Calvary, which it is in reality. 
Like Mary, let us stand in spirit beneath the cross, 
and let our souls be pierced with grief for our trans- 
gressions. Let us acknowledge that our sins were 
the cause of that agony, and of the shedding ol that 
precious blood. Let us follow in mind and heart that 
crowd of weeping penitents who accompanied our 
Saviour to Calvary, striking their breasts, and let us 
say : " Spare, Lord, spare Thy people." Or let us 
repeat with the Publican this heartfelt prayer : " O 
God, be merciful to me a sinner." At the death of 
Jesus, the sun was darkened, the earth trembled, 

1 1. John ii. 1, 2. 



THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS. 321 

the very rocks were rent, as if to show that even in- 
animate nature sympathized with the sufferings of 
its God. And should not we tremble for our sins? 
Should not our hearts, though as cold and hard a? 
rocks, be softened at the spectacle of our God sutfer- 
ing for love of us, and in expiation for our sins ? 

3. The sacrifice of the Mass is, in fine, a sacrifice 
of supplication : " For, if the blood of goats and of 
oxen, and the ashes of a heifer being sprinkled, 
sanctify such as are defiled to the cleansing of tbe 
flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who, 
through the Holy Ghost, ofifered himself without 
spot to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works 
to serve the living God?" ^ If the prayers of Moses 
and David and the Patriarchs were so powerful w 
behalf of God's servants, what must be the influence 
of Jesus' intercession ? If the wounds of the martyn • 
plead so eloquently for us, how much more elo- 
quent is the blood of Jesus shed daily upon ouir 
altars? His blo<xi cries louder for mercy than the 
hlood of Abel cried for vengeance. If God inclines 
His ear to us miserable sinners, how can He i^esist 
the pleadings in our behalf of the "Lamb of God 
wh© taketh away the sins of the world " ? 

" Let us go therefore, with confidence, to the 
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, aud find 
grace in seasonable aid." ^ 

* Heb. ix. 13, 14. ' Heb. iv. 16. 



322 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 



CHAPTEK XXIII. 

THE USE OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES DICTATED BY 
RIGHT REASON — APPROVED BY ALMIGHTY GOD 

IN THE OLD LAW SANCTIONED BY JESUS CHRIST 

IN THE NEW. 

BY religious ceremonies, we mean certain ex- 
pressive signs and actions which the Church 
has ordained for the worthy celebration of the 
divine service. 

True devotion must be interior and come from 
the heart ; for, " the true adorers shall adore the 
Father in spirit and in truth. For, the Father 
indeed seeketh such to worship Him. God is a 
spirit; and they who worship Him, must worship 
Him in spirit and in truth." ^ But we are not to 
infer from this that exterior worship is to be con- 
temned because interior worship is prescribed as 
essential. On the contrary, the rites and ceremonies 
which are enjoined in the worship of God and in 
the administration of the Sacraments, are dictated 
by right reason, and are sanctioned by Almighty 
God in the Old Law, and by Christ and His Apos- 
tles in the New. 

The angels, being pure spirits without a body, 
tender to God a purely spiritual worship. The sun 
and moon and stai^ of the firmament pay to Him 

1 John iv. 23, 24. 



THE USE OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. 323 

a kind of external horaaee. In the Prophet Daniel, 
we read : *' Sun and moon bless the Lord, . . . stars 
of heaven bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him 
above all forever." ^ But man, by possessing a soul 
or spiritual substance, partakes of the nature of 
angels, and by possessing a body, partakes of the 
nature of the heavenly bodies. It is therefore, his 
privilege, as well as his duty, to offer to God the two- 
fold honiao;e of bodv and soul ; in other words, to 
honor Him by internal and external v/orship. 

Genuine piety cannot long be concealed in the 
heart without manifesting itself by exterior prac- 
tices of religion ; and hence, though interior and 
exterior worship are distinct, they cannot be sepa 
rated in the present life. The fire cannot burii 
without sending forth a flame and heat. Neithei 
can the fire of devotion burn in the soul without 
reflecting itself on our countenance, and even on our 
speech. It is natural for man to express his senti- 
ments by signs and ceremonies, for, " from the ful- 
ness of the heart the mouth speaketh." And as 
the fuel is necessaiy to keep alive the fire, even so 
the flame of piety is nourished by the outward forms 
of religion. 

The fruit of a tree does not consist in its bark or 
its leaves and branches. Nevertheless, you never 
saw a tree bearing fruit, unless when clothed with 
bark, adorned with branches, and covered with 

^ Dan. iii. 62, 63. Though this passage is omitted in the Prot- 
estant Bible, it is retained in the Book of Common Prayer. 



324 THE FAITH OF OUB FATHERS. 

leaves. These are necessary for the protection of 
the fruit. In like manner, though the fruit of piety 
Aoes not consist in exterior forms, it must, however, 
be fostered by some outward observances, or it will 
soon decay. There is as close a relation between 
devotion and ceremonial as exists between the bark 
and the fruit of a tree. 

The man who daily bends the knee to his Maker, 
w^ho recites or sings His praises, who devoutly makes 
the sign of the cross, who assists without constraint 
at the public services of the Church, who observes 
an exterior decorum in the house of God, who gives 
*o the needy according to his means, and duly 
^i.ttends to the other practices and ceremonies of 
religion, will generally be one whose heart is united 
:o God, and who yields to Him a ready obedience. 
:>how me, on the contraiy, a man who habitually 
ueglects these outward observances of religion and 
:harity, and I will show you one in whose soul the 
:Hre of devotion burns very faintly, if it is not quite 
I'.xtinguished. 

The ceremonies of the Church not only render the 
divine service more solemn, but they also rivet and 
captivate our attention and lift it up to God. Our 
mind is so active, so volatile, and full of distractions ; 
our imagination is so fickle, that we have need of 
gome external objects on which to fix our thoughts. 

Almighty God considered ceremonial so indispen- 
sable to interior worship, that we find Him in the 
Old Law prescribing in the most minute detail tht^ 



THE USE OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. 32fi 

various rites and ceremonies and ordinances to 
be observed by the Jewish priests and people in 
their public worship. What is the entire book of 
I^viticus but an elaborate ritual of the Jewish 
church ? 

Our Saviour, though He came to establish a more 
spiritual religion than that of the Hebrew people, 
did not discard the outward forms of worship. He 
was accustomed to accompany His religious acts by 
appropriate ceremonies. 

In the garden of Gethsemani, "He fell upon His 
face," ^ in humble supplication. 

He went in procession to Jerusalem, accompanied 
by a great multitude who sang Hosanna to the Son 
of David.' 

At the last Supper, He invoked a blessing on the 
bread and wine, and after the Supper He chanted a 
hymn with His disciples.^ 

When the deaf and dumb man was brought to 
Him, before He healed him. He put His fingers 
into his ears, and touched his tongue with spittle, 
" and, looking up to heaven. He groaned and said - 
Ephpheta, which is. Be thou opened." * 

When He imparted the Holy Ghost to His dis^ 
ciples. He breathed on them.^ And the same Apos- 
tles afterwards communicated the Holy Ghost tc? 
others by laying hands on them.® 

* Matt. xxvi. ^ Ibid. xxi. * Ibid. xxvi. 

* Mark vii. ^ John xx. ^ Acts viii, 

28 



326 THE FAITH OF OTTR FATHERS. 

The Apostle St. James directs that if any man is 
sick, he shall call in the Priest, who will anoint him 
with oil.^ 

Now are not all these acts which I have just re- 
>"orded, — the prostration and procession, the prayer- 
ful invocation, the chanting of a hymn, the touching 
of the ears, the lifting up of the eyes to heaven, the 
breathing on the Apostles, the laying on of hands, 
and the unction of the sick, — are not all these acts 
so many ceremonies serving as models to those which 
the Catholic Church employs in her public worship, 
and in the administration of her sacraments ? 

The ceremonies now accompanying our public 
w^orship are, indeed, usually more gorgeous and 
elaborate than those recorded of our Saviour ; but 
it is quite natural that the majesty of ceremonial 
should keep pace with the growth and development 
of Christianity. 

But where shall we find a ritual so gorgeous as 
that presented to us in the Book of Revelation? 
-Angels with golden censers stand before the throne, 
while elders cast their crowns of gold before the 
Lamb once slain. Then that unnumbered multitude 
of all nations, tongues, and people, clothed in white 
raiment, bearing palms of victory. Virgins, too, 
with harp and canticle, follow near the Lamb, sing- 
ing the new song which they alone can utter.^ 

How glorious the pageant! How elaborate m 
detail ! 

^ James v. ^ Apocalypse, passim. 



THE USE OF RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. 327 

Strange would it be, if God, who, in the dispensa- 
tion past and that to come hereafter, is seen delight- 
ing in external majesty, should have deprived the 
Christian Church (the living link between the past 
and the future) of all external glory. " For," as 
St. Paul says, " if the ministry of condemnation is 
glory, much more the ministry of justice aboundetb 
in glory." ^ 

It is true, that God uttered this complaint against 
the children of Israel : " This people draw near Me 
with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but 
their heart is far from Me." ^ It is also true that 
He was displeased with their sacrifices and religious 
festivals.^ But He blamed them not because they 
praised Him with their voice, but because their 
hearts felt not what their lips uttered. And He 
rejected their sacrifices because they were not ac- 
companied by the more precious sacrifice of a peni- 
tent spirit. 

The same Lord who declares that the true adorer 
shall adore the Father in spirit, commands also that 
public praise be given to Him in His holy temple : 
" Praise ye the Lord," He says, " in His holy 

places Praise Him with sound of trumpet. 

Praise Him with psaltery and harp. Praise Him 
with timbrel and choir. Praise Him with strings 
and organs." * 

And if He says in one place : " Rend your hearts 

» U. Cor. iii. 9. ^ jgaiah xxix. 13. ^ Ibid. i. IS. 

* Ps. cl. 



328 THE FAITH OP OUR FATHERS. 

and not your garments," ^ immediately aftei He 
adds : " Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, 
call a solemn assembly. Gather together the people, 

sanctify the Church Between the porch and 

the altar, the priests, the Lord's ministers, shall 
weep, and shall say: Spare, O Lord, spare Thy 
people."^ 

When St. Paul says, that though he speak with 
the tongues of angels and of men, and distribute 
all his goods to feed the poor, and deliver his body 
to he burned, and have not the love of God, it 
profiteth him nothing,^ he points out the necessity 
of interior worship. And when he says elsewhere 
that "'in the name of Jesus every knee should bend 
of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the 
earth,"* he shows us the duty of exterior or cere- 
monial worship. 

When political leaders desire to in^uence the 
masses in their favor, they are not content with ad- 
dressing themselves to the intellect. They appeal 
also to the feelings and imagination. They have 
torchlight processions, accompanied by soul-stirring 
music discoursing popular airs. They have flags 
and banners floating in the breeze. They have 
public meetings, at which they deliver patriotic 
speeches to arouse the enthusiasm of the people. 

What these men do for political reasons, the 
Church performs from the higher motives of religion. 

^ Joel ii. 13. 2 xbid. ii. 15-17. I. Cor. xiiL 

* Phil. ii. 10. 



CEREMONIES, ETC. S29 

Therefore she has her solemn processions. She has 
her heavenly music to soften the heart and raise 
it to God. She consecrates her sacred banners, 
especially the cross, the banner of salvation. She 
preaches with a hundred tongues, speaking not only 
to our heads and hearts by the Word of God, bat 
to our feelings and imagination by her grand and 
imposing ceremonial. 



CHAPTER XXIV. - 

CEREMONIES OF THE MASS — THE MISSAL — i^TIN 
LANGUAGE — LIGHTS — FLOWERS — INCENSE — 
VESTMENTS. 

LET US now, dear reader, walk together into a 
Catholic Church, in time to assist at the late 
Mass, which is the most solemn service of the Cath- 
olic Liturgy. Meantime, I shall endeavor to ex- 
plain to you the principal objects which attract 
your attention. 

As we enter, I dip my fingers in a vase placed at 
the church door, and filled with holy water, and I 
make the sign of the cross, praying at the same 
time to be purified from all defilement, so that with 
a clean heart I may worship in God's holy temple. 

The Church, through her ministers, blesses every- 
thing used in her service ; for, St. Paul says, that 
" every creature of God is good, . . . that is received 
28* 



830 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word 
of God and by prayer." ^ 

Before Mass begins, the priest sprinkles ilie 
assembled congregation with holy water, reciting 
at the same time these words of the fiftieth Psalm : 
" Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall 
be cleansed ; Thou shalt wash me, and I sha]l oe 
made whiter than snow." 

The practice of using blessed water dates l)ack to 
a very remote antiquity, and is alluded to by several 
Fathers of the primitive Church. 

As we advance down the aisle, you observe lying 
open on the altar a large book, which is called 
a Missal^ or Mass-book, because it contains the 
prayers which are said at Mass. The oflBce of the 
Mass consists of selections from the Old and the New 
Testament, the Canon, and other appropriate prayers. 
The Canon of the Mass never varies throughout the 
year, and descends to us from the fii^t ages of the 
Church with scarcely the addition of a word. 
Nearly all the collects are also very old, many of 
them dating back to a period prior to the seventh 
century. I am acquainted with no prayers which 
can compare with the collects of the Missal in 
earnestness and vigor of language, in conciseness 
of style, and unction of piety. It is evident that 
tiieir authors were men who felt what they said, 
and were filled with the spirit of God, despising 
"the persuasive words of human wisdom," unlike 

1 1 Tim. iv. 4. 



CEREMONIES, ETC. 3S1 

80 many modern prayer-composers whose rounied 
periods are directed rather to tickle the ears of men 
than to pierce the clouds. 

You are probably familiar with the Episcopal 
Booh of Common Prayer, and have no doubt admired 
its beautiful simplicity of diction. But perhaps you 
will be surprised when I inform you that this 
Prayer-Book is for the most part a translation 
from our Missal. 

Let us now reverently follow the officiating Priest 
through the service of the Mass. 

You see him advance from the Sacristy and stanc 
at the foot of the altar, where he makes an humble 
confession of his sins to God and His saints. He 
then ascends the altar, and nine times the divine 
clemency is invoked in the Kyrie Eleison, Christe 
Eleison. He intones the sublime doxology, Gloria 
in Excelsis Deo ; sings the collects of the day, reads 
the Lesson or Epistle, chants the Gospel, when the 
sermon is usually preached. Next, he recites the 
Nicene Creed, which for upwards of fifteen centuries 
has been resounding in the churches of Christen- 
dom. Then you perceive him making the oblation 
of the bread and wine. He washes the tips of his 
fingers, reciting the words of the Psalmist : " I will 
wash my hands among the innocent, and will en* 
compass Thy altar, O Lord." He is admonished, by 
this ceremony, to be free from the least stain, in 
view of the sacred act he is going to perform. The 
Preface and Canon follow, including the solemn 



332 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

words of consecratiori, during which the bread and 
wine are changed by the power of Jesus Christ into 
His body and blood. He proceeds with other 
prayers, including the best of all prayers, the Our 
Father, as far as the Communion, when he partakes 
of the consecrated bread and chalice, giving the 
Holy Communion afterwards to such as are pre- 
pared to receive it. He continues the ]\Iass, gives 
his blessing to the kneeling congregation, and con- 
cludes with the opening words of the sublime Gos- 
pel of St. John. 

Here you have not merely a number of prayers 
strung together. But you witness a scene which 
rivets pious attention and warms the heart into fer- 
vent devotion. You participate in an act of wor- 
ship worthy of God, to whom it is offered. 

But you are anxious that I should explain to you 
the reason why the Mass is said in Latin. When 
Christianity was first established, the Roman Em- 
pire ruled the destinies of the world. Pagan Rome 
had dominion over nearly all Europe and large 
portions of Asia and Africa. The Latin was the 
language of the Empire. Wherever the Roman 
standard was planted, there also was spread the 
Latin tongue ; just as at the present time the Eng* 
llsh language is spoken wherever the authority of 
fiieat Britain or of the United States is established. 

The Church naturally adopted in her Liturgy or 
public worship the language which she then found 
prevailing among the people. The Fathers of the 



CEREMONIES, ETC. 333 

early Church generally wrote in the Latin tongue, 
which thus became the depository of the treasures 
of sacred literature in the Church. 

In the fifth century came the disruption of the 
Roman Empire. New kingdoms began to be formed 
in Europe out of the ruins of the old empire. The 
Latin gradually ceased to be a living tongue among 
the people, and new languages commenced to spring 
up like so many shoots from the parent stock. The 
Church, however, retained in her Liturgy, and in the 
administration of the Sacraments, the Latin lan- 
guage for very wise reasons, some of which I shall 
briefly mention : 

1. The Catholic Church has always one and tfu' 
same faith, the same form of public worship, the 
same spiritual government As her doctrine and 
liturgy are unchangeable, she wishes that the lan- 
guage of her Liturgy should be fixed and uniform. 
Faith may be called the jewel, and the language is 
the casket which contains it. So careful is the 
Church of preserving the jewel intact, that she will 
not disturb even the casket in which the jewel is set. 
Living tongues, unlike a dead language, are con- 
tinually changing in words and in their meaning. 
The English language, as written four centuries 
ago, would be now almost as unintelligible to ao 
English reader as the Latin tongue. In an old 
Bible published in the fourteenth century, St. Paul 
calls himself the villain of Jesus Christ. The word 
villain in those days meant a servant, but the term 



894 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

would not be complimeDtary now to one even less 
holj^ than the Apostle. This is but one instance, out 
of many which I might adduce, to show the muta- 
tions which our language has under<^one. But the 
Latin, being a dead language, is not liable to these 
changes. 

2. The Catholic Church is spread (vver the whole 
world, embracing in its fold children of all climes 
and nations, and peoples and tongues under the sun. 
How, I ask, could the Bishops of these various 
countries communicate with each other in council, if 
they had not one language to serve as a common 
medium of communication? It would be simply 
impossible. A church that is universal must have 
a universal tongue ; whilst a national church, or a 
church whose members" speak one and the same lan- 
guage, and whose doctrines conveniently change to 
suit the times, can safely adopt the vernacular 
tongue in its liturgy. 

A few years ago, a Convocation was held in Eng- 
(and composed of British and American Episcopal 
<)ishops. They had no difficulty in communicating 
with one another, because they all spoke their 
mother tongue. But suppose they had representa- 
tives from Spain, France, and Germany. The li}->g 
of those Continental bishops would be sealed, be- 
cause tliey could not speak to their English brothers; 
their ears would be also sealed, because they could 
not comprehend what was said to them. 

In 1869, at the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, 



CEREMONIES, ETC. 336 

were assembled Bishops from all parts of the worla, 
speaking all the civilized languages of Christendom. 
Had those Bishops no uniform language to exj^ress 
their thoughts, public debates and familiar conver- 
sation among them would have been impracticable. 
The Council Chamber would have been a perfect 
Babel of tongues. But, thanks to the Latin lan- 
guage which they all spoke (except a few Orientals), 
their speeches were as plainly understood as if each 
had spoken in his native dialect. 

3. Moreover, the Bishops and Clergy of the Catho- 
lic Church are in frequent correspondence with the 
Holy See. This requires that they should com- 
municate in one uniform language ; otherwise, the 
Pope would be compelled to employ secretaries 
speaking every language in Christendom. 

But if the priest says Mass in an unknown tongue, 
are not the people thereby kept in ignorance of what 
he says, and is not their time wasted in Church? 
We are forced to smile at such charges, which are 
flippantly repeated from year to year. These asser- 
tions arise from a total ignorance of the Mass. 
Many Protestants imagine that the essence of public 
worship consists in a sermon. Hence, to their minds, 
the primary duty of a congregation is to listen to a 
discourse from the pulpit. Prayer, on the contrary, 
according to Catholic teaching, is the most essential 
duty of a congregation, though they are also regu- 
larly instructed by sermons. Now, what is the Mass? 
It is not a sermon, but it is a sacrifice of prayer 



3S6 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

which the priest offers up to God for himself and the 
people. When the priest says Mass, he is speaking 
not to the people, but to God, to whom all languages 
are equally intelligible. 

The congregation, indeed, could not be expected 
to hear the priest, even if he spoke in English, since 
his face is turned from them, and the greater part 
of what he says is pronounced in an undertone. 
And this was the system of worship God ordained 
in the ancient dispensation, as we learn from the 
Old Testament, and from the fii^t chapter of St. 
Luke. The priest offered sacrifice, and prayed for 
the people in the sanctuary, while they prayed at a 
distance in the court. In all the schismatic churches 
of the East, the priest, in the public services, prays 
not in the vulgar, but in a dead language. Such, 
also, is the practice in the Jewish synagogues at this 
day. The Eabbi reads the prayers in Hebrew, a 
language with which many of the congregation are 
not familiar. 

But is it true that the people do not understand 
what the priest says at Mass ? Not at all. For, by 
the aid of an English Missal, or any other Manuai, 
they are able to follow the officiating clergyman 
from the beginning to the end of the service. 

You also observe lighted tapers on the altar, and 
y-ou desire to know for what purpose they are 
a?ied. 

In the Old Law, the Almighty Himself ordained 
that lighted chandeliers should adorn the taber- 



CEEEMONIES, ETC. 337 

aacle.^ Assuredly that cannot be improper in the 
New Dispensation which God sanctioned in the 
Old, 

The lights upon our altars have both a historical 
and a syrabolical meaning. In the primitive days 
of the Church, Christianity was not tolerated by the 
Pagan world The Christians were consequently 
obliged to assemble, for public worship, in the Cata- 
combs of Rome, and other secret places. These 
Catacombs, or subterranean rooms, still exist, and 
are objects of deep interest to the pious strangers 
that visit the Eternal city. As these hidden apart- 
ments did not admit the light of the sun, the faith- 
ful were obliged to have lights even in the open 
day. In commemoration of the event, the Church 
has retained the use of lights on her altars. 

These lighted candles h*ave also a symbolical 
meaning. They represent our Saviour, who is " the 
light of the world,^' " who enlighteneth every man 
that Cometh into the world,'' without whom we 
should be wandering in darkness and in the shadow 
of death. 

They also serve to remind us to " let our light so 
shine before men (by our good example), that they 
may see our good works, and glorify our Father 
who is in heaven." 

Lights are used, too, as a sign of spiritual joy. St. 
Jerome, who lived in the fourth century, remarks : 

* Exod. XXV. 31, and secj. 
29 W 



838 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

" Throiigliout all the Churches of the East, before 
the reading of the Gospel, candles are lighted at 
mid-day, not to dispel darkness, but as a sign of 

joy." 

You also noticed the priest incensing the altar. 
Incense is a striking emblem of prayer, which should 
ascend to heaven from hearts burning with love, just 
as the fragrant smoke ascends from the censer, 
" Let my prayer,'* says the Eoyal Prophet, " ascend 
like incense in Thy sight." ^ God enjoined in the 
Old Law the use of incense : " Aaron shall burn 
sweet-smelling incense upon the altar in the morn- 
ing." "^ Hence we see the priest Zachariah " offer 
incense on going into the temple of the Lord. And 
all the multitude were praying without at the hour 
of incense." ^ 

You perceive that the altar is decorated to-day 
with vases and fimvers, because this is a Festival of 
the Church. There is one spot on earth which can 
never be too richly adorned, and that is the sanc- 
tuary in which our Lord vouchsafes to dwell among 
us. Nothing is too good, nothing too beautiful, 
nothing too precious for God. He gives us all we 
possess, and the least we can do in return is to orna- 
ment that spot which He has chosen for His abode 
upon earth. The Almighty, it is true, has no need 
of our gifts. He is rich without them. " The earth 
is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof" Neverthc 
less. He is pleased to accept our offerings when they 

^ P3. 0x1. "" Exod. XXX. 7. ^ Luke i. 9, 10. 



CEREMONIES, ETC. 839 

are bestowed upon Him as a mark of our affection, 
just as a father joyfully receives from his child a 
present bought with his own means. Our Saviour 
gratefully accepted the treasures of the Magi, though 
he could have done without such gifts. Some per- 
sons, when they see our sanctuary sumptuously 
decorated, will exclaim : Had it not been better to 
give to the poor the money spent in purchasing 
these things ? So complained Judas (though caring 
not for the poor^) when Mary poured from an 
alabaster vase the precious ointment on the feet 
of an approving Saviour. Why should not we 
imitate Mary, by placing at His feet, around His 
sanctuary, our vases with their chaste and fragrant 
flowers, that the Church may be filled with their 
perfume, as Simon's house was filled with the odor 
of the ointment ? 

Does not the Almighty at certain seasons adorn 
with lilies and flowers of every hue this earth, which 
is the great temple of nature ? And what is more 
appropriate than that we should on special occasions 
embellish our sanctuary, the place which He has 
chosen for His habitation among us? It is sweet to 
snatch from the field its fairest treasures wherewith to 
beautify the temple made with hands. 

The sacred vestments which you saw worn by the 
officiating priest, must have struck you as very an- 
tique and out of fashion. Nor is th?s surprising; 
for if you saw a lady enter church, to-day, with a 

^ John xii. 6. 



MO THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

head-dress such as was worn in the days of Queen 
Elizabeth, her appearance would look to you very 
singular. Now, our priestly vestments are far older 
in style than the days of Queen Elizabeth ; much 
older even than the British Empire. Eusebius, and 
other writers of the fourth century, speak of them 
as already existing in their times. It is no wonder, 
therefore, that these vestments look odd to the un- 
familiar eye. 

In the Old Law, God prescribed to the priests the 
S8,cred vestments which they should wear while en- 
gjiged in their sacred office: "And these shall be 
tlie vestments which they shall make (for the priest) : 
a rational and an ephod, a tunic and a straight linen 
giirment, a mitre and a girdle. They shall make 
tLe holy vestments for thy brother Aaron and his 
Bcns, that they may do the office of priesthood unto 
Me."^ Guided by Heaven, the Church also pre- 
scribes sacred garments for her ministering priests. 
For, it is eminently proper and becoming that the 
minister of God, while engaged in the sacred mys- 
teries, should be arrayed in garments which would 
constantly impress upon him his sacred character, 
and remind him, as well as the congregation, of the 
sublime functions he is performing. 

The vestments worn by the priest while celebrat- 
ins: Mass are, an Amict, or white cloth around the 
neck ; an Alb, or white garment reaching to his 
ankles, and bound around his waist by a cincture ; 

^ Exod. xxviii. 4. 



CEREMONIES, ETC. 341 

a Maniple suspended from his left arm ; a Stole, 
which is placed over his shoulders and crossed at 
the breast ; and a Chasuble, or large outer garment. 

The Chasuble, Stole, and Maniple vary in color 
according to the occasion. Thus, White vestmenta 
are used at Christmas, Easter, and other Festivals of 
joy, also on Feasts of Confessors and Virgins ; Bed 
are used at Pentecost, and on Festivals of Apostles 
and Martyrs ; Green, from Trinity Sunday to Ad- 
vent, on days having no special feast ; Purple, during 
Lent and Advent; and Black, in Masses for the dead. 

One more word on this subject. Only a few years 
ago, the whole Protestant world was united in de- 
nouncing the use of floral decorations on our altars, 
incense, sacred vestments, and even the altar itself, 
as abominations of Popery. But of late, a better 
spirit has taken possession of a respectable portion 
of the Protestant Episcopal church. After having 
exhausted their wrath against our vestments, and 
vilified them as the rags of the wicked woman of 
Babylon, the members of the Ritualistic church 
have, with remarkable dexterity, passed from one 
extreme to the other. They don our vestments; 
they swing our censer, and erect altars in their 
churches, and adorn them with flowers and candle- 
sticks. 

These Ritualists are, however, easily discerned 
from the true priest, and should one of them ever 
appear before the Father of the faithful in these ill- 
fitting robes, the venerable Pontiff would exclaim, 
29* 



342 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

with the Patriarch of old : " The voice indeed is the 
voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands oi 
Esau." I feel the garment of the Priest, but I hear 
the voice of the parson. 

God grant that, as our misguided brothers have 
assumed our sacerdotal garments, they may adopt 
our faith, so that their speech may conform to their 
dress. And then having laid aside their earthly 
stoles, may they deserve, like all faithful priests, to 
b^ seen " standing before the throne, and in sight of 
the Lamb, with white stoles and palms in their hands, 
. . . saying : Salvation to our God, who sitteth upon 
the throne, and to the Lamb." ^ 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 

L 

IHE DIVINE INSTITUTION OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCS 
— THE POWER OF FORGIVING SINS LEFT BY CHRIST TO 
HIS CHURCH — THE NECESSITY AND ADVANTAGES OF 
CONFESSION. 

rl1HE whole history of Jesus Christ is marked by 
J. mercy and compassion for suftering humanity. 
From the moment of His incarnation till the hour 

* Apoc. vii. 9, 10. 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 343 

of His death, every thought and word and act of 
His divine life was directed towards the alleviation 
of the ills and miseries of fallen man. 

As soon as He enters on His public career, He 
goes about doing good to all men. He gives sight 
to the blind, and heariug to the deaf, and vigor to 
the paralyzed limbs; He applies the salve of com- 
fort to the bleeding heart and raises the dead to 
life. 

But while Jesus occupied Himself in bringing 
relief to corporal infirmities, the priJicipal object of 
His mission was to release the soul from the bonds of 
sin. The very name of Jesus indicates this import- 
ant truth : *' Thou shalt call His name Jesus," says 
the angel, " for He shall save His people from their 
sins."^ 

For, if Jesus had contented Himself with healing 
the maladies of our body, without attending to those 
of our soul, He would deserve indeed to be called 
our Physician, but would not merit the more en- 
dearing titles of Saviour and Kedeemer. But as 
sin was the greatest evil of man, and as Jesus 
came to remove from us our greatest evils. He, 
came into the world chiefly as the great Absolver 
from sin. 

Magdalen seems to have a consciousness of this ; 
she casts herself at His feet, which she washes with 
her tears and wipes with her hair, while Jesus pro- 

1 Matt. i. 21. 



844 THE FAITH OF OUR f^ATHERS. 

nonnces over her the saving words of absolution. 
The very demons recognized Jesus as the enemy of 
sin, for they dreaded His approach, knowing, as 
they did, that He would drive them out of the 
bodies of men. 

And indeed our Lord makes the healing of the 
body secondary to the healing of the soul. And 
when He delivers the body from its distempers, 
!Iis object is to win the confidence of the spectators 
by compelling them to recognize Him as the souFs 
Physician. For instance: He says to the palsied 
man, "Thy sins are forgiven."^ The scribes are at 
once offended at our Saviour for presuming to for- 
give sins. He replies, in substance : If you do not 
believe My words, believe My acts; and He at once 
heals the man of his disease. And after he had 
rured the man that had been languishing for thirty- 
eight years. He whispered to him this gentle ad- 
raonition, " Sin no more, lest some worse thing may 
happen to thee." ^ 

As much as our spiritual substance excels this 
flesh which surrounds it, so much more did our 
Saviour value the resurrection of a soul from the 
grave of sin than the resurrection of the body from 
the grave of death. Hence St. Augustine pointedly 
remarks that, while the Gospel relates only three 
resurrections of the body, our Lord, during His 
mortal life, raised thousands of souls to the life of 
grace. 

^ Matt. Lr. 2. ' John v. 14. 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENaNCE. 846 

As the Church was established by Jesus Christ 
to perpetuate the work which he had begun, it fol- 
lows that the reconciliation of sinners to God was to 
be the principal office of the Church. 

But the important question here presents itself: 
How was man to obtain forgiveness in the Church 
after our Lord's ascension ? 

Was Jesus Christ to appear in person to every 

..sinful soul, and say to each penitent, as He said to 

Magdalen, " Thy sins are forgiven thee?" or did He 

intend to delegate this power of forgiving sins to 

ministers appointed for that purpose ? 

We know well that our Saviour never promised 
to present Himself visibly to each sinner, nor has 
He done so. 

His plan, therefore, must have been to appoint 
ministers of reconciliation to act in His name. It 
has always indeed been the practice of Almighty 
God, both in the Old and New Law, to empower 
human agents to execute His merciful designs. 

When Jehovah resolved to deliver the children 
of Israel from the captivity of Egypt, He appointed 
Moses as their deliverer. When God wished them 
to escape from the pursuit of Pharaoh, across the 
Red Sea, did He intervene directly? No; but, by 
His instructions, Moses raised his hand over the 
waters and they were instantly divided. 

When the people were dying from thirst in tht^ 
desert, did God come visibly to their rescue? No , 
but Moses struck the rock, from which the water 



S46 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

instantly issued. When Paul was going to Damas- 
cus, breathing vengeance against the Christians, did 
our Saviour personally restore his sight, and convert 
and baptize him? No; He sent Paul to His servant 
Ananias, who restored his sight and baptized him. 

The same Apostle, in one sentence, beautifully 
describes to us, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, the 
arrangement of divine Providence in the reconcilia- 
tion of sinners : " God," he says, " hath reconciled 
us to Himself through Christ, and hath given to us 
the ministry of reconciliation. . . . For Christ, there- 
fore, we are ambassadors ; God, as it were, exhorting 
through us." ^ That is to say, God sends Christ to 
reconcile sinners : Christ sends us. We are His 
ambassadors, reconciling sinners in His name. 

When I think of this tremendous power which we 
^>ossess, I congratulate the members of the Church, 
^or whose benefit it is conferred ; I tremble for my- 
self and my fellow-ministers, for terrible is our re- 
sponsibility, while we have nothing to glory in. 
Christ is the treasure ; we are but the pack-horses 
that carry it. " We bear this treasure in earthen 
vessels." Christ is the shepherd ; we are the pipe 
He uses to call His sheep. Our words sounding in 
the confessional are but the feeble echo of the voice 
Df the Spirit of God that purified the Apostles in the 
I'cnacle of Jerusalem. 

But have we any Gospel authority to show that 

1 II. Cor. V. 18-20. 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 347 

our Saviour did confer on the Apostles, and theii 
successors, the power to forgive sins ? 

We have the most positive testimony, and our 
Saviour's words conferring this power are expressed 
in the plainest language, which admits of no mis* 
conception. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, oar 
Saviour thus addresses Peter : " Thou art Peter, 
and on this rock I will build My Church. . . . 
And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of 
heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth 
shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever thou 
shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.""* 

And to all the Apostles assembled together or 
another occasion, He uses the same forcible Ian 
guage : " Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shaL 
be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever you shaL 
loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven."' 
The soul is enchained by sin. I give you power 
says our Lord, to release the penitent soul from itf 
galling fetters, and to restore it to the liberty of 8 
child of God. 

And in the Gospel of St. John we have a stiU 
more striking declaration of the absolving powe 
given by our Saviour to His Apostles. 

Jesus, after His resurrection, thus addresses His 
disciples: " Peace be to you. As the Father hath 
sent Me, I also send you. . . . Receive ye the Holy 
Ghost; whose sins ye shall forgive, they are for 

^Matt. xvi. 18, 19. >Matt. xviii. 18. 



348 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

given them, and whose sins ye shall retain, they 
are retained." ^ 

That peace which I give to you, you will impart 
to repentant souls, as a pledge of their reconciliation 
with God. The absolving power I have from My 
Father, the same I communicate to you. Receive 
the Holy Ghost, that you may impart this Holy 
Spirit to souls possessed by the spirit of evil. " If 
their sins are as red as scarlet, they shall be made 
as white as wool.'* If they are as numerous as the 
sands on the sea-shore, they shall be blotted out, 
provided they come to you with contrite hearts. 
The sentence of mercy which you shall pronounce 
on earth, I will ratify in heaven. From these 
words of St. John I draw three important conclu- 
sions : 

It follows, first, that the forgiving power was not 
restricted to the Apostles, but extended to their 
successors in the ministry, unto all times and places. 
The forgiveness of sin was to continue while sin 
lasted in the world ; and as sin, alas ! will always 
be in the world, so will the remedy for sin be always 
in the Church. The medicine will co-exist with the 
disease. The power which our Lord gave the 
Apostles to preach, to baptize, to confirm, to ordain, 
etc., was transmitted by them to their successors. 
Why not also the power which they had received to 
forgive sins, since man's greatest need is his recon- 
ciliation with God by the forgiveness of his offences ? 

1 John XX. 21-23. 



THE SACRAMElJfT OF PENANCE. 349 

It follows, secondly, that forgiveness of sin was 
ordinarily to be obtained only through the ministry 
of the Apostles and their successors, just as it was 
from them that the people were to receive the word 
of God and the grace of Baptism. The pardoning 
power was a great prerogative conferred on the 
Apostles. But what kind of a prerogative would 
it be, if people could always obtain forgiveness by 
confessing to God secretly in their rooms. How 
iiiw would have recourse to the Apostles if they 
s>)uld obtain forgiveness on easier terms? God 
■wiys to His chosen ministers : I give you the keys 
«4' My kingdom, that you may dispense the treas- 
ures of mercy to repenting sinners. But of wha^ 
v^e would it be to give the Apostles the keys of 
"- od's treasures for the ransom of sinners, if even* 
<i^- tiner could obtain his ransom without applying tr 
i% e Apostles? If I gave you, dear reader, the keyc 
'?!"' my house, authorizing you to admit whom you 
^ ease, that they might partake of the good things 
cv>ntained in it, you would conclude that I had done 
you a small favor, if you discovered that every one 
was possessed of a private key, and could enter when 
he pleased, without consulting you. 

I have said that forgiveness of sins is ordmarily 
t^ be obtained through the ministry of the Apostles 
and of their successors, because it may often happen 
that the services of God's minister cannot be obtained. 
A merciful Lord will not require in this conjunc- 
iure more than a hearty sorrow for sin joined with 
30 



350 THE FAITH OF OUR FAIHERS. 

a desire of having recourse, as soon as practicable, 
to the tribunal of Penance ; for, God's ordinances 
bind only such as are able to fulfill them. 

It follows, in the third place, that the power of 
forgiving sins on the part of God's minister, involves 
the obligation of confessing them on the part of 
the sinner. The priest is not empowered to give 
absolution to every one indiscriminately. He must 
exercise the power with judgment and discretion. He 
must reject the impenitent, and absolve the penitent 
But how will he judge of the disposition of the 
dinner, unless he knows his sins? and how will the 
priest know his sins, unless they are confessed? 
Hence, we are not surprised when we read in the 
Acts, that " Many of them who believed, came con- 
Jessing and declaring their deeds " ^ to the Apostles. 
Why did they confess their sins unless they were 
l)ound to do so ? Hence, also, we understand why 
fit. John says, " If we confess our sins. He is faith- 
ful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us 
from all iniquity." ^ 

The strength of these texts of Scripture will ap- 
pear to you much more forcible, when you are told 
that all the Fathers of the Church, from the first to 
the last, insist upon the necessity of Sacramental 
Confession as a divine institution. We are not un- 
frequently told, by those who are little acquainted 
with the doctrine and history of the Church, that 

1 Acts xix. 18. * I. John i. 9. 



THE SACBAMENT OF PENAXCE. 351 

Sacramental Confession was not introduced into 
the Church until 1,200 years after the time of our 
Saviour. In vindication of their bold assertion, 
they even introduce quotations from SS. Basil, Am- 
brose, Augustine, Jerome, and Chrysostom. These 
quotations are utterly irrelevant; but if seen in 
the context, they will tend to prove, instead of dis- 
proving the Catholic doctrine of Confession. For 
the sake of brevity, I shall cite a few passages 
only from the Fathers referred to. These citations 
I take, almost at random, from the copious writings 
of these Fathers on Confession. From these ex- 
tracts you can judge of the sentiments of all the 
Fathers on the subject of Confession. "J. 6 uno 
disce omnes.^' 

St. Basil writes : " In the confession of sins, the 
same method must be observed as in laying open 
the injSrmities of the body ; for as these are not 
rashly communicated to every one, but to those only 
who understand by what method they may be cured, 
so the confession of sins must be made to such per- 
sons as have the power to apply a remedy. Neces- 
sarily, our sins must be confessed to those to whom 
has been committed the dispensation of the mys- 
teries of God. For thus also are they found tc 
have acted who did penance of old, in regard of the 
saints. For it is written in the Acts, they confessed 
to the Apostles, by whom also they w^ere baptized." ' 

1 In Keg. Brev., p. 516. 



352 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

St. Ambrose, of Milan, writes: "The poison is 
sin ; the remedy, the accusation of one's crime : the 
poison is iniquity ; confession is the remedy of the 
relapse. And, therefore, it is truly a remedy against 
poison, if thou declare thine iniquities, that thou 
mayest be justified. Art thou ashamed ? This shame 
will avail thee little at the judgment seat of God." ' 

The following passage clearly shows that the great 
Light of the Church of Milan is speaking of con- 
fession to priests: "There are some," continues St. 
Ambrose, " who ask for penance, that they may at 
once be restored to communion. These do not so 
much desire to be loosed as to bind the priest; for 
they do not unburden their conscience, but they 
burden his, who is commanded not to give holy 
things unto dogs, that is, not easily to admit impure 
souls to the holy communion."^ 

Paulinus, the secretary of St. Ambrose, in his life 
of that great Bishop, relates that he used to weep 
over the penitents whose confessions he heard. 

St. Augustine writes : " Our merciful God wills us 
to confess in this world that we may not be con- 
founded in the other." ' And again : " Let no one 
say to himself, I do penance to God in private, I do 
it before God. Is it then in vain that Christ hath 
said, * Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be 
loosed in heaven ? ' Is it in vain that the keys have 

* See Faith of Catholics, Vol. III., p. 74 and seq. 

* A pud Wiseman, Doctrines of the Church. 

* Horn. XX. 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENAIS^CE. 353 

been giveu to the Church ? Do we make void the 
Gospel ? void the words of Christ ? '' ^ 

In this extract how well doth the great Doctoi 
meet the sophistry of those who, in our times, saj 
that it is sufficient to confess to God ! 

St. Chrysostom, in his thirtieth Homily, says' 
" Lo ! we have now at length reached the close of 
Holy Lent ; now especially we must press forward 
in the career of fasting, .... and exhibit a full and 
accurate confession of our sins, .... that with these 
good works, having come to the day of Easter, we 

may enjoy the bounty of the Lord For, as 

the enemy knows that having confessed our sins, 
and shown our wounds to the physician, we attain to 
an abundant cure, he in an especial manner op- 
poses us.'' 

And again he says : " Do not confess to me only 
of fornication, nor of those things that are manifest 
among all men, but bring together also thy secret 
calumnies, and evil speakings, .... and all such 
things." ^ 

The great Doctor plainly enjoins here a detailed 
and specific confession of our sins not to God, but to 
His minister, as the whole context evidently shows. 

The same Father, in an eloquent treatise on the 
power of the sacred ministry, uses the following words: 
" To the priests is given a power which God would 
not grant either to angels or archangels ; insomuch 
that what the priests do below, God ratifies above, 

Sermo cccxcii. * Tom. vii., Comm. in Maiu 

30* X 



854 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

and the Master confirms the sentence of His servants. 
For, He says, ' Whose sins you shall retain, they are 
retained.' 

" What power, I ask, can be greater than this ? 
The Father hath given all power to the Son ; and I 
lee all this same jDower delivered to them by God 
the Son. 

" To cleanse the leprosy of the body, or rather to 
pronounce it cleansed, was given to the Jewish priests 
alone. But to our Priests is granted the power not 
of declaring healed the leprosy of the body, but of 
absolutely cleansing the defilements of the soul." ^ 

And again : " If a sinner, as becomes him, would 
use the aid of his conscience, and hasten to confess 
his crimes, and disclose his ulcer to his physician, 
who may heal and not reproach, and receive remedies 
from him ; if he would speak to him alone, without 
ihe knowledge of any one, and with care lay all 
before him, easily would he amend his failings ; for, 
the confession of sins is the absolution of crimes.'' ^ 

St. Jerome writes : " If the serpent, the devil, 
eecretly bite a man, and thus infect him with the 
poison of sin, and this man shall remain silent, and 
do not penance, nor be willing to make known his 
wc und to his brother and master ; the master, who 
has a tongue that can heal, cannot easily serve him. 
For, if the ailing man be ashamed to open his case 
to the physician, no cure can be expected ; for medi- 
cine does not cure that of which it knows nothing."' 

^ Lib. iii., De Sacerdotio. ^ Ibid., Horn. xx. 

^ C'oinraent. in Eccles. 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENA^CE. 355 

Elsewhere he says : " With us, the Bishop or 
priest binds or looses ; not them who are merely 
innocent or guilty, but having heard, as his duty 
requires, the various qualities of sin, he understands 
who should be bound and who loosed." ^ 

Could the Catholic doctrine regarding the power 
t'f the priests and the obligation of confession be ex- 
pressed in stronger language than this ? 

And yet these are the very Fathers who are 
represented to be opposed to Sacramental Confes- 
sion ! With a reckless disregard of the unanimous 
voice of antiquity, our adversaries have the hardihoo<l 
to assert that private or Sacramental Confession was 
introduced at a period subsequent to the twelfth 
century. They do not, however, vouchsafe to inform 
us by what Pope or Bishop or Father of the Church, 
or by what Council, or in what country, this mon- 
strous innovation was foisted on the Christian 
Republic. Surely, an institution which, in their 
estimation, has been fraught with such dire ca- 
lamity to Christendom, ought to have its origin 
marked with more precision. It is sometimes pru- 
dent, however, not to be too particular in fixing 
dates. 

I shall now, I trust, show to the satisfaction of 
the reader : 1. That Sacramental Confession was not 
introduced ; 2. That it could not have been intro- 
duced into the Church since the days of the Apostles, 
aiid consequently that it is Apostolic in its origin, 

^ Comm. in Matt. 



^56 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

That Confession was not invented since the days 
of the Apostles is manifest as soon as we attempt to 
fix the period of its first establishment. Let us go 
back, step by step, from the nineteenth to the first 
century. 

It had not its origin in the present century, aa 
everybody will admit. 

Nor did it arise in the sixteenth century, since the 
General Council of Trent, held in that age, speaks 
of it as an established and venerable institution; 
and Luther says that " auricular Confession, as now 
in vogue, is useful, nay, necessary ; nor would I," 
he adds, '* have it abolished, since it is the remedy 
of afflicted consciences ; " ^ and even Henry VIII., 
before he founded a new sect, wrote a treatise ii? 
defence of the Sacraments, including Penance and 
Confession. 

It was not introduced in the thirteenth century, 
for the Fourth Council of Lateran passed a decree 
in 1215, obliging the faithful to confess their sins af 
least once a year. This decree, of course, supposes 
Confession to be already an established fact. 

Some Protestant writers fall into a common error, 
in interpreting the decree of the Lateran Council, by 
Baying " that Sacramental Confession was never re- 
quired in the Church of Rome until the thirteenth 
century." The Council simply prescribed a limit 
beyond which the faithful should not defer their 
Confession. 

^ Lib. de Capt. Babyi. cap. de Poenit. 



TUE SACEAME^T OF PE:srANCE. 357 

These writei^ seem incapable of distinguisliing be- 
tween a law obliging us to a certain duty and a stat- 
ute fixing the time for fulfilling it. They might as 
well suppose that the revenue officer creates the law 
regarding the payment of taxes, when he issues a 
notice requiring the revenue to be paid within a 
given time. 

Going back to the ninth century, we find that 
Confession could not have had its rise then. It was 
at that period that the Greek schism took its rise, 
under the leadership of Photius. The Greek schis- 
matic church has remained since then a communion 
^parate from the Catholic Church, having no spir- 
itual relations with us. Now, the Greek church i^ 
as tenaciously attached as we are to private Con 
fession. 

For the same reasons. Confession could not dafcj 
its origin from the fifth or fourth century. Thj 
Arians revolted from the Church in the fourtli 
century, and the Nestorians and Eutychians in the 
fifth. The two latter sects still exist in large num- 
bers in Persia, Abyssinia, and along the coast of 
Malabar, and retain Confession as one of their 
most sacred and cherished practices. 

In fine, no human agency could succeed in insti- 
uting Confession between the first and fourth cen- 
tury ; for the teachings of our divine Redeemer 
and of His disciples had made too vivid an im- 
pression on the Christian community to be easily 
effaced ; and the worst enemies of the Church ad- 



358 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

mit that no spot or wrinkle had yet deformed her 
fair visage in this, the golden age of her existence. 

These remarks suffice to convince us that Sacra- 
mental Confession ivas not instituted since the time of 
the Apostles. I shall now endeavor to prove to your 
Batisfaction that its introdnction into the Churchy since 
the A postolic age, was absolutely impossible. 

There are two ways in which we may suppose that 
error might insinuate itself into the Church, viz. : 
suddenly, or by slow process. Now th« introduction 
of Confession in either of those ways was simply 
impossible. 

First, nothing can be more absurd than to sup- 
pose that Confession was immediately forced upon 
the Christian world. For experience demonstrates 
with what slowness and difficulty men are divested 
of their religious impressions, whether true or false. 
N'ow, if such is the case with individuals, how ridicu- 
•lous would it seem for whole nations to adopt in a 
single day some article of belief which they haa 
never admitted before. Hence, we cannot imagine, 
without doing violence to our good sense, that all 
the good people of Christendom went to rest, one 
night, ignorant of the sacrament of Penance, and 
rose the next morning firm believers iu the Catho- 
lic doctrine of auricular Confession. As well might 
we suppose that the citizens of the United States 
would retire to rest at night believing they were 
living under a Republic, and wake up impressed 
with the conviction that they were under the rule 
of Queen Victoria. 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 359 

Kor is it less absurd to suppose that the practice 
of Confession was introduced by degrees. Hoay can 
we imagine that the Fathers of the Church — the 
Clements, the Leos, the Gregories, the Chrysostoms, 
the Jeromes, the Basils, and Augustines, those in- 
trepid High Priests of the Lord, who, in every age, 
at the risk of suffering persecution, and exile and 
death, have stood like faithful sentinels on the watch- 
towers of Israel, defending, with sleepless eyes, the 
outskirts of the city of God from the smallest attack 
— liow can we imagine, I say, that they would suffer 
^he enemy of truth to invade the very sanctuary of 
God's temple? If they were so vigilant in cutting 
off the least error, how would they tamely submit 
to see such a monstrous exotic engrafted on the fruit- 
ful tree of the Church ? 

What gives additional weight to these remarks, is 
Ihe reflection that Confession is not a speculative 
doctrine, but a doctrine of the most practical kind, 
influencing our daily actions, words, and thoughts 
and a sacrament to which thousands of Christians 
have constant recourse in every part of the woi Id 
It is a doctrine, moreover, hard to flesh and bloid 
and which no human power, even if it had the wi tl, 
could be able to impose on the human race. It i§ 
only a God that, in such a case, could exact tl 3 
homage of our assent. 

In whatever light, therefore, we view the present 
question — whether we consider the circumstance3 
of time, or place, or manner of its introduction — 



360 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

the same inevitable conclusiou stares us in the face: 
that Sacramental Confession is not the invention of 
man, but the institution of Jesus Christ. 

But the doctrine of priestly absolution, and the 
private Confession of sins, is not confined to th* 
Roman Catholic and Oriental schismatic churches 
The same doctrine is also taught by a large and in- 
fluential portion of the Protestant Episcopal church 
ot England. 

The Rev. C. S. Grueber, a clergyman of the church 
of England, has recently published a catechism, in 
which the absolving power of the minister of God, 
and the necessity and advantage of Confession, are 
j)lainly set forth. I will quote from the Rev. gentle- 
aan's book his identical words : 

Question. What do you mean by absolution ? 

Answer. The pardon or forgiveness of sin. 

Q. By what special ordinance of Christ are sins 
committed after Baptism to be pardoned ? 

A. By the sacrament of absolution. 

Q. Who is the minister of absolution ? 

A. A Priest. 

Q. Do you mean that a Priest can really absolve? 

A. Yes. 

Q. In what place of the Holy Scripture is it re- 
rorded that Christ gave this power to the priest- 
hood ? 

A. In John xx. 23 ; see also Matt, xviii. 18. 

Q. What does the Prayer-Book (or Book of Com 
mon Prayer) say? 



THE SACRAMEIs^ OF PENANCE. 361 

A. In the office for the ordaining of Priests, the 
Bishop is directed to say, '' Receive the Holy Ghost, 
for the office and work of a Priest in the Church of 
God. Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are for 
given." In the office for the visitation of the sick 
it is said, " Our Lord Jesus Christ hath left in His 
Church power to absolve all sinners that truly re- 
pent and believe in Him." In the order for morn- 
ing and evening prayer we say again, " Almighty 
God hath given power and commandment to Hi& 
ministers to declare and pronounce to His people, 
being penitent, the absolution and remission of their 
sins." 

Q, For what purpose hath Christ given this powei 
to Priests to pronounce absolution in His name ? 

A, For the consolation of the penitent ; the quieting 
of his conscience, 

Q. What must precede the absolution of the 
penitent ? 

A, Confession Before absolution privately 

given. Confession must be made to a Priest pri- 
vately. 

Q. In what case does the church of England 
order her ministers to move people to private, or, as 
it is called, to auricular Confession ? 

A, When they feel their conscience troubled with 
any weighty matter. 

§. What is weighty matter ? 

A, Mortal sin certainly is weighty ; sins of omis- 
iion or commission of any kind, that press upon the 
31 



862 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERa 

mind, are so too. Anything may be weighty that 
<jauses scruple or doubtfulness. 

Q. At what times in particular does the Church 
m order ? 

A, In the time of sickness, and before coming to 
(he Holy Communion. 

Q, Is there any other class of persons to whom 
Confession is profitable? 

A. Yes; to those who desire to lead' a saintly life, 
Tliese, indeed, are the persons who most frequently re- 
mrt to it. 

Q, Is there any other object in Confession, besides 
the seeking absolution for past sin, and the quieting 
)f the penitent's conscience? 

A. Yes; the practice of confessing each single 
sin is a great check upon the commission of sin, and 
a preservative of purity of life.^ 

Here we have the divine institution of priestly 
absolution and the necessity and advantages of 
Sacramental Confession plainly taught, not in a 
^speculative treatise, but in a practical catechism, by 
a distinguished minister of the church of England ; 
taught by a minister who draws his salary from the 
funds of rhe Protestant Episcopal church ; who 
preaches and administers in a church edifice recog- 
^uized as a Protestant Episcopal church, and who is 
in strict communion with a Bishop of the Protest- 
.ant Episcopal church of England. 

^See "A CatechiHiu on the Church." By the Evev. C. S. 
Grueber, Hani bridge, Diocess of Bath and Wells. London : 
Palmer. 1870. 



THE SACPwAMENT OF PENAXCE. a63 

And these doctrines are upheld, not by one emi- 
nent divine only, but by hundreds of clergymen, as 
well as by thousands of the Protestant Episcopalians 
of England. 

What a strange spectacle to behold the same 
church teaching diametrically opposite doctrines ! 
What is orthodox in the diocess of Bath and Wells 
is decidedly heterodox in the diocess of North Caro- 
lina. An ordinance which Rev. Mr. Graeber pro- 
claims to be of divine faith, is characterized by Rt. 
Rev. Bishop Atkinson^ as the invention of men. 
W^hat Dr. Grueber inculcates as a most salutary 
practice, Dr. Atkinson anathematizes as pernicious to 
religion. Confession, which, in the judgment of the 
former, is a great " check upon the commission of 
sin/' is stigmatized by the latter as an incentive to 
sin. " Behold how good and pleasant it is for 
brethen to dwell together in unity." ^ 

Suppose that the venerable Protestant Episcopal 
Bishop of North Carolina, in passing through Eng- 
land, were invited by the Rev. Mr. Grueber to 
preach in his church in the morning, and that the 
Rt. Rev. Prelate chose for his subject a sermon on 
Confession ; and suppose that the Rev. Mr. Grueber 
selected in the evening, as the subject of his dis- 
course, the doctrine advanced by him in his cate- 
chism. 

Let us imagine some benighted dissenter attend- 

^ The Protestant Episcopal Bishop of North Carolina. 
' Ps, cxxxii. 



364 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

ing Mr. (Irueber s church at the morning and even- 
ing service, with the view of being enlightened in 
the teachings of the Protestant church, would not 
our dissenter be sorely perplexed, on returning home 
at night, as to what the Protestant Episcopal church 
really did teach f 

Some Episcopalians are pleased to admit thai 
Confession may be resorted to with spiritual profit 
in certain abnormal cases — for instance, in time 
of sickness. So that in their judgment, a relig- 
ious observance which is salutary to a sick man, is 
pernicious to him in good health. For the life 
of me, I cannot see how the circumstance of bodily 
health can affect the moral character of a religious 
act. 

That a minister of the Baptist or the Methodist 
church should deny the power of priestly absolution, 
I readily understand, since these churches disclaim, 
in their confessions of faith, any such prerogative 
for their clergy. But I cannot well conceive why a 
Protestant Episcopalian should repudiate the par- 
doning power, which is plainly asserted in his 
standard Prayer-Book. 

Whenever an Episcopalian Bishop imposes hands 
on candidates for the ministry he employs the fol- 
lowing words, which are found in the Book of Com- 
liion Prayer: '* Receive the Holy Ghost for the office 
and work of a Priest in the Church of God, now com- 
mitted unto thee by the imposition of our hands. 
Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven ; and 



THE SACRAMEISTT OF PENANCE. 8f)S 

whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained." * If 
these words do not mean that the minister receive©, 
by the imposing of the Bishop's hands, the power of 
forgiving sin, they mean nothing at all. And when 
the Bishop pronounces this sentence, either he 
intends to convey this power of absolution, or he 
does not. If he intended to confer this power, he 
could not employ more clear and precise language 
to express his idea ; if he did not intend to confer 
this power, then his language is calculated to mislead. 

Just imagine that prelate addressing a candidate 
for Holy Orders, in the morning, with the words : 
" Whose sins thou dost forgive they are forgiveo ; " 
and after divine service, saying to the young minis- 
ter : Remember, sir, you have no power to forgive 
sins. The words of ordination are a mere figure oi 
speech. 

When a Catholic Bishop ordains priests, he uses 
the precise words which I have quoted, because the 
Book of Common Prayer borrows them from our 
Pontifical. But he means exactly what he says, 
viz. : That the Priest receives through the ministra- 
tion of the Bishop the power of forgiving sins. 

To sum up: We have seen that the Sacrament 
of Penance and absolution by the priest is taught 
in Scripture; proclaimed by the Fathers; upheld 
not only by Roman Catholics throughout the world, 
but also by all the schismatic Christians of the East ; 

^ The Ordering of Priests. 
31* 



866 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS, 

inculcated in those old and genuine editions of the 
Book of Common Prayer, which have not been ener- 
vated by being subjected to the pruning-knife in 
this country ; and that the same practice is encour- 
aged by an influential portion of the Protestant 
Episcopal church in England, and I will add, also, 
in the United States. 

Some, again, object to priestly absolution on the 
assumption that the exercise of such a function 
would be a usurpation of an incommunicable pre- 
rogative of God, who alone can forgive sins. This 
was precisely the language addressed by the Scribes 
to our Saviour. They exclaimed : " He blasphera- 
eth ! who can forgive sins but God only?''^ My 
answer, therefore, will be equally applicable to 
old and modern objectors. It is not blasphemy 
for a priest to claim the power of forgiving sins, 
since he acts as the delegate of the Most High. 
It would, indeed, be blasphemous, if a priest pre- 
tended to absolve in his own name and by virtue 
of his own authority. But when the priest absolves 
the penitent sinner, he acts in the name, and by 
the express authority, of Jesus Christ ; for he says : 
** I absolve thee in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Let it be under- 
stood, once for all, that the priest arrogates to him- 
self no divine powers. He is but a feeble voice. 
tt is the Holy Spirit that operates sanctity in the 
soul of the penitent. 

^ Mark ii. 7. 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENAKCE. 367 

Not a few Protestant Episcopalians, I believe, still 
admit that original sin is washed away in the Sacra- 
ment of Baptism. If the minister is not guilty of 
blasphemy, in being the instrument of God's mercy, 
in forgiving sins by Baptism, how can a priest blas- 
pheme in being the instrument of divine mercy, in 
absolving sinners in the Sacrament of Penance? for 
the same Lord who instituted Baptism for the remis- 
sion of original sin, established Penance for the for- 
giveness of sins committed after Baptism. Did not 
the Apostles exercise divine power in raising dead 
bodies to life again, and in raising souls that were 
dead to the life of grace? And yet no one but 
Scribes and Pharisees accused them of usurping 
God's powers. And cannot the Almighty, with- 
out derogating from His own glory, give to men 
in the nineteenth century privileges which He ac- 
corded to them in the first age of the Church ? 

Far, then, from dishonoring, we honor God by 
having recourse to the earthly physician whom He 
has appointed for us, and, like the multitude in the 
Gospel, we " glorify God, who hath given such 
po\Yer to men." ^ 

Others also object to Confession, on the alleged 
ground that there is no necessity for having rt?- 
course to the ministrations of a priest, since God 
can forgive us in secret. If God is able to save 
us without any priestly ministrations, why, then, 
are not the people informed that they can, iD 

- Matt. ii. 8. 



868 THE FAITH OF OUE FATHERS. 

future, dispense altogether with the services of the 
clergy, without any detriment to their own salva- 
tion ? St. Augustine, who lived 1,400 years ago, 
will answ^er the objection for me : " Let no one," re- 
marks this illustrious Doctor, "say to himself, I do 
Penance to God in private ; I do it before God. Is 
it then in vain that Christ has said * Whatsoever ye 
shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven ' ? Is 
it in vain that the keys have been given to the^ 
Church?'' The question for us is not what God 
is able to do, but what He has willed to do. God 
might have adopted other means for the justification 
of the sinner, as he might have created a world 
diflferent from the present one. But it is our busi- 
ness to take our Father at His word, and to have 
recourse with gratitude to the system He has actu- 
ally established for our justification. Now, we are 
assured by His infallible word, that it is by having 
recourse to His consecrated ministers that our sins 
will be forgiven us.^ 

It is related in the Book of Kings that Naaman, 
the Syrian, was afflicted with a grievous leprosy, 
which baffled the skill of the physicians of his 
country. He had, in his household, a Jewish 
maid-servant. She spoke to her master of the 
great prophet Eliseus, who lived in her native- 
country, to whom the Lord had given the power 
of performing miracles. She besought her master 
to consult the prophet. Naaman accordingly set 

^ John XX. 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 3f>9 

out for the country of Israel, and begged Eliseus 
to heal him. The prophet told hini to go and 
wash seven times in the Jordan ; but Naaman, 
instead of doing as he was directed, became very 
angry, and said ; " I thought he would have come 
out to me, . . ; and touched with his hand the place 
of the leprosy, and healed me. Are not the Abana 
and the Pharfar, rivers of Damascus, better than all 
the waters of Israel, that I may wash in them, and 
be made clean ?" ^ But the servants of Naaman re- 
monstrated with him, and besought him to comply 
with the prophet's injunction, telling him that the 
conditions were easy, and the Jordan was at hand. 
Naaman went and washed, and was cleansed. Our 
opponents, like Naaman, cry out : '* Why should you 
go to a priest, a sinner like yourself, when, secretly 
in your own room, you can approach God, the pure 
fountain of grace, to be washed from your sins ? " I 
answer, because Jesus Christ, a prophet, and more 
than a prophet, has commanded you to do so. 

The last charge that I will notice is the most se 
rious and the most offensive. We are told that pri 
vate Confession is lawless ; that the conscience soon 
becomes " enfeebled and chained and starved " by 
it; and, worse and worse, that sins are more readily 
committed, if followed by an absolution conveying 
pardon. In other words, that the more attached 
Cjitholics are to the practices of their holy religion, 
the more depraved and corrupt they become. Or, 
H they remain faithful to God, this is not by reason 
of, but in spite of their religious practices. 

1 IV. Kings V. 
Y 



570 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

iSurely this was not the sentiment of the late Dr. 
Ives, once Protestant Bishop of North Carolina, and 
of many other illustrious converts, who, from the 
day of their conversion to the hour of their death, 
never failed to receive consolation and strength from 
the sacred tribunal. 

Nor is this the sentiment of Rev. Father Lyman, 
a Catholic Priest of Baltimore, and i^rother of the 
assistant Protestant Bishop of North Carolina. Nor 
is it the sentiment of the present Archbishops of 
Baltimore and Philadelphia, and of the Bishops of 
Wilmington, Cleveland, Columbus, and Ogdensburg, 
and a host of others, both of the Protestant clergy 
and laity, who, within the last fifty years, have 
entered the Catholic Church. 

If we compare the Protestant and Catholic systems 
for the forgiveness of sins, the Catholic system will 
not suffer by the comparison. According to the 
Protestant system, repentance is necessary and suf- 
ficient for justification. The Catholic system also 
requires repentance on the part of the sinner as an 
indispensable prerequisite for the forgiveness of sin. 
But it requires much more than this. Before the 
penitent receives absolution, he must carefully ex- 
amine his conscience, and confess his sins, according 
to their number and kind. He is obliged to have 
a firm purpose of amendment ; to promise restitu- 
tion, if he has defrauded his neighbor; reparation 
for any injury done to his neighbor's character; 
reconciliation with his enemies, and to avoid the 
occasions of sin. Do not these obligations afford a 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 371 

belter safeguard against a relapse into sin than a 
simple internal act of contrition? 

Many most eminent Protestant, and even infidel 
writers, who were conversant with the practical 
workings of the Confessional in the countries where 
they lived, bear testimony to the moral reformation 
produced by Confession. The famous German phil- 
osopher, Leibnitz, admits that it is a great benefit 
conferred on men, by God, that He left in His 
Church the power of forgiving sins.^ 

Voltaire, certainly no friend of Christianity, 
avows '' that there is not perhaps a more useful 
institution than Confession." ^ 

Rousseau, not less hostile to the Church, exclaims : 
"How many restitutions and reparations does not 
Confession cause among Catholics ! " ^ 

The Protestant authorities of Nuremberg, in 
Germany, shortly after the establishment of the 
reformed doctrines in that city, were so much 
alarmed at the laxity of morals which succeeded 
after the abolition of Confession, that they petitioned 
their Emperor, Charles Y., to have the practice of 
Confession restored. 

It is a favorite practice for the adversaries of the 
Catholic Church to refer to the alleged loose morals 
prevailing in France, and in other Catholic coun- 
tries, as a proof of the inferior standard of Catholic 
morality. This is a safe, and at the same time not 
the most honorable, mode of attack, as the people 
of those nations are too far off to defend themselves. 

^ Syi^tfeuia Tliful. ^ Reiiiarques sur TOlympe. ' Emile. 



872 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

For my part, I have spent a considerable time in 
various portions of France, and more edifying 
Christians I iiave never witnessed than those I have 
met in that country. For six years I had for my 
professors French priests, whose exemplary lives 
were a daily sermon to all of us. 

And I submit that the cosmopolitan city of Paris 
(waiving, for the present, the enormities of which it 
is accused,) is not to be adduced as a fair criterion 
of French morality. Let us stay at home, and judge 
of Catholic morals by the examples furnished under 
our eyes. 

The influence of the Confessional has been fairly 
tested in this country, since the foundation of our 
Republic. Are practical Catholics enfeebled in 
conscience? Is their conscience chained and 
starved? Has the absolution they received, whet- 
ted their appetites for more sin ? And are they 
monsters of immorality ? I think that an enlight- 
ened Protestant public will pronounce a contrary 
verdict. 

I feel that I can say, with truth, that Catholics 
who frequent the Confessional, are generally virtuous 
in their private lives ; just and honorable in their 
dealings with others, and that they cultivate charity 
and good-will towards their fellow-citizens. 

It will not do to say to me, that it is the system, 
and not the individual, that is attacked. How can 
we judge of a system, unless by its practical working 
in the individual ? " By their fruits ye shall know 
them," says our Redeemer. 



THE SACRAMEIS^ OF PEXANCE. 373 

Vices, indeed, we have to deplore among certain 
classes of our people, which are often superinduced 
by their migratory habits, and irregular mode of 
life. But they are commonly sins of frailty, and 
these are not the persons that are accustomed to 
approach the Confessional. If they did, their lives 
would be very different from what they are. 

The best of us, alas ! are not what we ought to 
be, considering the graces we receive. But if you 
seek for canting hypocrites, or colossal defaulters, 
or perpetrators of well-laid schemes of forgery, or of 
systematic licentiousness, or of premeditated violence, 
you will seek for such in vain among those who fre- 
quent the Confessional. 

But we are told that Confession is au intolerable 
yoke, and that it makes its votaries the slaves of the 
priests. 

Before answering this objection, let me call youi 
attention to the inconsistency of our adversaries, who 
blow hot and cold in the same breath. At the same 
time they denounce Confession as being too hard a 
remedy for sin, and condemn it as being a smooth 
road to heaven. You have only, say they, to pay 
a little toll at the Confessional gate, to pass the 
biggest load of sin. And then they call it an in- 
tolerable yoke. In one sentence they style it a bed 
of roses ; and in the next a bed of thorns. 

In the last objection it was charged that the votaries 
of Confession had no moral constraint at all. Now 
it is said that their conscience is bound in chains of 
32 



374 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS 

slavery. Surely Confession cannot be hard and easy 

at the same time. 

I have already refuted, I trust, the former charge. 
I shall now answer the second. I am not aware in 
what sense our people are less independent than 
those of any other class of the community. The 
only restraint, as far as I know, imposed on Cath- 
olics by their priests, is the yoke of the Gospel, and 
to this restraint no Christian ought to object. In 
my estimation, no body of Christians enjoys more 
Apostolic freedom than those of the Catholic com- 
munion, because they are guided in their conduct, 
not by the ever-changing ipse dixit of any minister, 
but by the unchangeable teachings of the Church 
of Jesus Christ. 

But if to love their priest, to reverence his sacred 
character, to obey his voice as the voice of God ; if 
to be willing to make any sacrifice for their spiritual 
father ; if, I say, you call this slavery, then our Cath- 
olic people are slaves, indeed ; and, what is more, 
they are content with their chains. 

Even our Manuals of Devotion have not escaped 
the lash of wanton criticism. They have excited 
the pious horror of some modern Pharisees, because 
they contain a table of sins for the use of those 
preparing for Confession. The same flower which 
furnishes honey to the bee, supplies poison to the 
wasp ; and, in like manner, the same book which 
gives only the honey of consolation to the devout 
reader, has nothing but moral poison for those that 
search its pages for nothing else. 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 375 

How can any one object to the table of sins in 
our prayer-books, aixi consistently advocate the 
circulation of the Bible, which contains incompara- 
bly plainer and more palpable allusions to gross 
crimes than are found in our books of devotion? 
Let us not forget the adage, " Hoiii soil qui mal j 
penseJ^ 

I may be permitted, in concluding this subject, to 
add the testimony of my own experience on the 
beneficent influence of the Confessional ; for, like 
my brethren in the ministry, I am, in the language 
of Dryden, 

"One bred apart from worldly noise. 
To study souls, their cures, and their diseases." 

Since the time of my ordination up to the present 
hour, I have been accustomed to hear Confessions 
almost every day. I have, therefore, had a fair op- 
portunity of ascertaining the value of the " system." 
And the impressions forced upon my mind, far from 
being peculiar to myself, are shared by every 
Catholic priest throughout the world who is charged 
with the care of souls. And the testimony of ten 
experienced confessors ought, in my estimation, to 
have more weight, in enabling men to judge of the 
moral tendencies of the Confessional, than the gratui- 
tous assertions of a thousand individuals who have 
no personal experience of the Confessional, but who 
draw on their heated imaginations, or on the pages 
of sensational novels, for the statements they ofler. 



876 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

My experience is, that the Confessional is the most 
powerful lever ever erected by a merciful God for 
raising men from the mire of sin. It has more 
weight in withdrawing people from vice than even 
the pulpit. In public sermons, we scatter the seed 
of the Word of God ; in the Confessional, we reap 
the harvest. In sermons, to use a military phrase, 
the fire is at random, but in Confession it is a dead 
shot. The words of the priest go home to the heart 
of the penitent. In a public discourse the priest 
addresses all in general, and his words of admonition 
may be applicable to very few of his hearers. But 
his words spoken in the Confessional are directed 
exclusively to the penitent, whose heart is open to 
receive the Word of God. The confessor exhorts 
the penitent according to his spiritual wants. He 
cautions him against the frequentation of dangerous 
company, or other occasions of sin ; or he recom- 
mends special practices of piety suited to the peni- 
tent's wants. 

Hence missionaries are accustomed to estimate the 
fruit of a mission, more by the number of penitent? 
who have approached the sacred tribunal, than by 
the number of persons who have listened to theii 
eermons. 

Of all the labors that our sacred ministry imposes 
on U8^ there are none more arduous or more irksome 
than that of hearing Confessions. It is no trifling 
task to sit for six or eight consecutive hours on a 
hot summer's day, listening to stories of sin and 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 377 

sorrow and misery ; and it is only the con^* lousnesa 
of the immense good which he is doing, thui sustains 
the confessor in the sacred tribunal. iJ.^ is one 
"who can have compassion on the ignorant and 
erring, because he himself is also encomp^i^sed with 
infirmity."^ 

I have seen the man whose conscience t^ as weighed 
down by the accumulated sins of twenty winters. 
Upon his face were branded guilt and ehame and 
remorse and confusion. There he stood by the Con- 
fessional, with a downcast countenance, ashamed, 
like the Publican, to look up to heaven. And he 
glided into the little mercy-seat. No human ear 
will ever learn what there transpired. The revela- 
tions of the Confessional are a sealed book. 

But during the few moments spent in the Confes- 
sional, a resurrection occurred more miraculous than 
the raising of Lazarus from the tomb — it was the 
resurrection of a soul, that had long lain worm-eaten, 
from the grave of sin. During those precious mo- 
ments, a ray from heaven dispelled the darkness and 
gloom from that self-accuser's mind ; and the genial 
warmth of the Holy Spirit had melted his frozen 
heart, and the purifying influence of the same Spirit 
that came on the Apostles, " like a mighty wind 
from heaven," scattered the poisonous atmosphere 
in which he lived, and filled his soul with divine 
grace. And when he came out there was quickness 
in his step, and joy on his countenance, and a new 

1 Heb. v. 2. 
32* 



378 THE FAITH OF OUB FATHERS. 

light in his eye. And had you asked him why, he 
would have answered, because I was lost, and ana 
found ; having been dead, I am come to life again. 

II. 

ON THE RELATIVE MORALITY OF CATHOLIC AND PROTES- 
TANT COUNTRIES. 

It has been gravely asserted that the confession 
of sin and the doctrine of absolution tend to the 
spread of crime and immorality. Statistics are pro- 
duced to show that murder and illegitimate births 
are largely in excess in countries under Catholic in- 
fluence ; and that this prevalence of wickedness is 
the result of Confession and easy absolution. 

If our system of absolving those only who both 
repent and confess, leads to laxity of morals, how 
much more must the Protestant system, which omits 
that which is most humiliating, and admits the 
sinner to reconciliation on condition of mere interior 
dispositions ? As all our catechisms teach, and as 
every Catholic knows, there is no pardon of sin 
without sorrow of heart and purpose of amendment. 
It is a great mistake to suppose that the most igno- 
rant Catholic believes he can procure the pardon 
of his sins by simply confessing them, without being 
truly sorry for them. The estimate which so many 
Protestants set on the virtue of even the lower classes 
of Roman Catholics is clearly enough evinced in the 
preference which they constantly manifest in their 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 879 

eraployraent of Catholics — practical Catholics — 
Catholics who go to Confession. I maintain, therefore, 
that Confession, far from being an incentive to sin, 
as our adversaries have the hardihood to affirm, is a 
most powerful check on the depravity of men, and a 
most effectual preventive of their criminal excesses. 

But is it true that crimes, especially murder and 
illegitimacy, are more prevalent in Catholic than 
in Protestant counti?ies ? I utterly deny the asser- 
tion, and also appeal to statistics in support of the 
denial. Whence do our opponents derive their 
information? Forsooth, from Rev. M. Hobart 
Seymour's "Nights among Romanists," and like 
absolutely unreliable compilations, the false state- 
ments of which have been again and again refuted. 

Rev. Mr. Seymour gives the following list of the 
number of murders in England, France, and Ire- 
land : 

Ireland 19 homicides to the million of inhabitants. 

France 31 

England 4 " " 

The reader of the above might well draw back in 
astonishment, and exclaim, " Truly moral atmosphere 
of England ! " But how do these statements com- 
pare with the official records which I submit to 
the unprejudiced reader ? Recent returns from the 
"Hand-Book" for France, and "Thom's Official 
Directory for England and Ireland, 1869," are a3 
follows : 



880 THE ^A.ITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Conviotions (and sentences to death). Executioma, 

1864— France 9 5 

1867.— England and Wales 27 10 

Ireland 3 

These figures, which are from authenticated 
sources, do not bear out our accusers in their asser- 
tion that murders are more prevalent in Catholic 
than in Protestant countries. The statistics of this 
crime are limitt-^d, or they are not in very general 
circulation. BiU we have more extensive informa- 
tion in reference, to the other great crime which, it is 
charged, preTa'ls to a much more alarming extent 
in countries under Catholic influence, viz., illegiti- 
macy. Here again we shall meet statistics with 
counter-statibttcs, to refute unjust declarations. We 
do not wish ^o be understood as advocating the im- 
maculatenejjs of Catholic communities. We frankly 
admit and heartily deplore the disorders which 
Catholics f^omrait, but we deny that they are worse 
than their Protestant neighbors ; and still more em- 
phatically do we deny that the Church is responsible 
for their disorders. 

The Journal of the Statistical Society of London, 
of the years 1860, '62, '65, '67, gives the number of 
illegitimate births in England and Wales as 6^ in 
every hundred, whilst in the Catholic kingdom of 
Sardinia the number is slightly over two in the 
hundred, and in Ireland three in every hundred. If 
the test of illegitimacy is a correct index of the 
morality of a country, how refreshing to pass from 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 381 

Protestant England across to Catholic Ireland, or to 
the Continent, and visit Sardinia ! The moral atmos- 
phere of these countries, compared with England, 
must be as a healthful breeze to a pestilential marsh 
That we may see at a glance the real condition 
of European countries in reference to this species of 
crime, I will here insert as correct a table as can be 
made from the latest reports. (Vid. Catholic World, 
Vol. XL, p. 112.) 

PERCENTAGE OF ILLEGITIMACY IN PR0TE8TANT 
AND CATHOLIC COUNTRIES OF EUROPE. 

ProtestanL 

Per cent. 

Holland 4.0 

Switzerland 5.5 

Prussia (Protestant) 10.0 

England and Wales ., 6.5 

Sweden and Norway - 9.6 

Scotland 10.1 

Denmark 11.0 

German States ^ 14.8 

Wurtemburg 16.4 

Calholie, 

P8r cent. 

Italy 5.1 

Spain 5 5 

France 7.2 

Prussia (Catholic) 6.5 

Belgium 7.2 

Austria 11.1 

Ireland 3.0 



882 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

We have divided Prussia into Protestant and 
CathoLc because statistics are kept according to the 
religious creed of the people ; and we discover that, 
whilst among the Catholic portion of the empire 
there is but a percentage of six and a half of ille- 
gitimate births, among the Protestants it runs up 
to ten per cent. And the same remark is applicable 
to Ireland. 

The Scotman, whose statements are based on the 
report of the British Registrar-General, publishes 
the following statistics : 

" The proportion of illegitimate births to the total 
number of births is in Ireland 3.8 per cent. ; in Eng- 
land the proportion is 6.4 ; in Scotland 9.9 ; in other 
words, England is nearly twice, and Scotland nearly 
thrice worse, than Ireland. Something worse has to 
be added, from which no consolation can be derived. 
The proportion of illegitimacy is very unequally 
distributed over Ireland, and the inequality rather 
humbling to us as Protestants, and still more as 
Presbyterians and Scotchmen. Taking Ireland ac- 
cording to the registration divisions, the proportion 
of illegitimate births varies from 6.2 to 1.3. The 
division showing this lowest figure is the western, 
being substantially the Province of Connaught, 
where about nineteen-twentieths of the population 
are Celtic and Roman Catholic. The division show- 
ing the highest proportion of illegitimacy is the 
north-eastern, which comprises, or almost consists of, 
the province of Ulster, where the population is almost 



THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 383 

equally divided between Protestants and Roman 
Catholics, and where the great majority of Protes- 
tants are of Scotch blood, and of the Presbyterian 
church. The sum of the whole matter is, that semi- 
Presbyterian and semi-Scotch Ulster is fully three 
times more immoral than wholly Popish and wholly 
Irish Connaught — which corresponds with wonder- 
ful accuracy to the more general fact that Scotland, 
as a whole, is three times more immoral than Ireland 
as a whole." 

It is worthy, too, of notice, that in the tabular 
statement above presented, the percentage of ille- 
gitimacy in Holland and Switzerland, where there 
are large Catholic minorities, is lower than in any 
other Protestant country. 

We have at hand evidences, furnished by Protes- 
tant writers, of the hideous immoralities of certain 
European nations that are more thoroughly Prot- 
estantized than England itself. Thus, Mr. Laing 
writes: "Of the 2,714 children born in Stockholm, 
1,577 were legitimate, 1,137 illegitimate; making 
only a balance of 440 chaste mothers out of 2,714 ; 
and the proportion of illegitimate to legitimate 
children not as one to two and three-tenths, but 
as one to one and a half." — A Tour in Sweden in 
1838. 

But we are not disposed to parade these monstrous 
vices, no matter by whom committed. We allude 
to them with feelings of shame, not of pleasure; and 
give them a passing notice merely in self-defence 



S84 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

against the gratuitous assertions of our adversaries. 
We certainly do not wish to excuse or palliate the 
evil der^ds of Catholics, who, with all the blessed 
aids which their religion affords, ought to be much 
better than they are. Yet we will add, quoting the 
words of the Catholic World: "If we are not very 
much better than our neighbors, we are not any 
worse ; and are not to be hounded down with the 
cry of vice and immorality by a set of Pharisees 
who are constantly lauding their own superiority, 
and thanking God they are so much better than we 
poor Catholics." 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

INDULGENCES. 

'^rHERE are few tenets of the Catholic Church 
JL so little understood, or so grossly misrepresented 
by her adversaries, as her doctrine regarding In- 
dulgences. 

One of the reasons of the popular misapprehen- 
sion of an Indulgence, may be ascribed to the change 
which the meaning of that term has gradually un- 
dergone. The word Indulgence originally signified 
favor J remission^ or forgiveness. Now, it is commonly 
used in the sense of unlawful gratification, and of 
free scope to the passions. Hence, when some igno- 
rant or prejudiced persons hear of the Church grant- 



INDULGENCES. 385 

ing an Indulgence, the idea of license to sin is at 
once presented to their minds. 

An Indulgence is simply a remission in whole or 
in part, through the superabundant merits of Jesus 
Christ and His saints, of the temporal punishment 
due to God on account of sin, after the guilt and 
eternal punishment have been remitted. 

It should be borne in mind, that even after our 
guilt is removed, there often remains some temporal 
punishment to be undergone, either in this life or 
the next, as an expiation to divine sanctity and 
justice. The Holy Scripture furnishes us with many 
examples of this truth. Mary, the sister of Moses, 
was pardoned the sin which she had committed by 
murmuring against her brother. Nevertheless, God 
inflicted on her the penalty of leprosy and of seven 
days' separation from the people.^ 

Nathan, the prophet, announced to David that 
his crimes were forgiven, but that he should suffer 
many chastisements from the hand of God."^ 

That our Lord has given to the Church the power 
of granting Indulgences, is clearly deduced from the 
Sacred Text. To the Prince of the Apostles, He 
said : " Whatsoever thou shait bind on earth, shall 
be bound also in heaven ; and w^hatsoever thou sbalt 
loose on earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." 
And to all the Apostles assembled together He 
made the same solemn declaration.* By these words 

^ Kum. xii. ^ II. Kings xii. ® Matt. xvi. 19. 

* Ibid, xviii. 18. 
33 Z 



386 THE FAITH OF OUR FAT^ER8. 

our Saviour empowered His Church to deliver her 
children (if properly disposed) from every obstacle 
that might retard them from the kingdom of heaven. 
N^ow there are two impediments that withhold a man 
from the heavenly kingdom, — sin, and the temporal 
punishment incurred by it. And the Church having 
power to remit the greater obstacle, which is sin, has 
power also to remove the smaller obstacle, which is 
the temporal punishment due on account of it. 

The prerogative of granting Indulgence has been 
exercised by the teachers of the Church from the 
beginning of her existence. 

St. Paul exercised it in behalf of the incestuous 
Corinthian whom he had condemned to a severe 
penance proportioned to his guilt, " that his spirit 
might be saved in the day of the Lord." ^ And 
having learned afterwards of the Corinthian's fervent 
contrition, the Apostle absolves him from the penance 
which he had imposed : " To him, that is such a one, 
this rebuke is sufficient, which is given by many. 
So that contrariwise you should rather pardon and 
comfort him, lest, perhaps, such a one be swallowed 

up with over-much sorrow And to whom you 

have pardoned anything, I also. For, what I have 
pardoned, if I have pardoned anything, for your 
sakes I have done it, in the person of Christ." ^ 

Here we have all the elements that constitute 
an Indulgence. 1. A penance, or temporal punish* 
meut proportioned to the gravity of the oHence, 

1 L Cor. V. 5. ^ II. Cor. ii. 6-10. 



INDULGENCES. 387 

is imposed on the transgressor. 2. The penitent is 
truly contrite for his crime. 3. This determines the 
Apostle to remit the penalty. 4. The Apostle con- 
siders the relaxation of the penance ratified by Jesus 
Christ, in whose name it is imparted. 

We find the Bishops of the Church, after the 
Apostle, wielding this same power. No one disputes 
the right, which they claimed from the very first 
ages, of inflicting canonical penances on grievous 
criminals, who were subjected to long fasts, severe 
abstinences, and other mortifications for a period ex- 
tending from a few days to five or ten years, and 
even to a lifetime, according to the gravity of the 
offence. These penalties were, in several instances, 
mitigated or cancelled by the Church, according to 
her discretion. For a society which can inflict a 
punishment can also remit it. And our Lord gave 
His Church power not only to bind, but also to 
loose. This discretionary prerogative was often 
exercised by the Church at the intercession of those 
who were condemned to martyrdom, when the 
penitents themselves gave strong marks of fervent 
sorrow, as we learn from the writings of Tertullian 
and Cyprian. 

The General Council of Nice, and other Synods, 
authorize the Bishops to mitigate, or even to remit 
altogether, the public penances, whenever, in their 
judgment, the penitent manifested special marks of 
repentance. Now, in relaxing the canonical penances, 
or in substituting for them a milder satisfaction, the 



888 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Bishops granted what we call an Indulgence. And 
this sentence of remission on the part of the Bishopg 
was valid not only in the sight of the Church, but 
also in the sight of God. And although the Church 
imposes canonical penances no longer, God has never 
ceased to inflict temporal punishment for sin. Hence 
Indulgences continue to be necessary now, if not as 
a substitute for canonical penances, at least as a 
mild and merciful payment of the temporal debt 
due to God. 

An Indulgence is called plenary or partial, accord- 
ing as it remits the whole or a part of the temporal 
punishment due to sin. An Indulgence for instance, 
of forty days, remits, before God, so much of the 
temporal punishment as would have been expiated 
in the primitive Church by a canonical penance of 
forty days. 

Although the very name of Indulgences is now so 
repugnant to our dissenting brethren, there was a 
time when the Protestant church professed to grant 
them. In the canons of the church of England, 
reference is made to Indulgences, and to the disposi- 
tion which is to be made of the money paid for them.^ 

* Articuli pro Clero, A. D. 1584. Sparrow, 194. I admit, 
tjideed, that Protestant canons have but a fleeting and ephern- 
»ral authority even among themselves, and that the canons 
must yield to the spirit of the times, not the times to the 
canons. I dare say that even few Protestant theologians are 
familiar with the canons to which I have referred. Some 
people have a convenient faculty of forgetting unpleasant 
traditions 



iimuLGEisrcES. S89 

From what I have said, you may judge for your- 
self what to think of those who say that an Indul- 
gence is the remission of past sins, or a license to 
commit sin granted by the Pope as a spiritual com- 
pensation to the faithful for pecuniary offerings 
made to him. I need not inform you that an Indul- 
gence is neither the one nor the other. It is not a 
remission of sin, since no one can gain an Indulgence 
until he is already free from sin. It is still less a 
license to commit sin ; for every Catholic child knows 
that neither Priest, nor Bishop, nor Pope, nor even 
God Himself — with all reverence be it said — can 
give any license to commit the smallest fault. 

But are not Indulgences at variance with th<$ 
spirit of the Gospel, since they appear to be a mild 
and feeble substitute for alms-giving, fasts, absti- 
nences, and other penitential austerities, which Jesus 
Christ inculcated and practised, and which the primi- 
tive Church enforced ? 

The Church never exempts her children from the 
obligation of doing works of penance, as every one 
must know who is acquainted with her history. 

No one can deny that the practices of mortifica- 
tion are more frequent among Catholics than among 
Protestants. Where will you find the evangelical 
duty of fasting enforced, if not from the Catholic 
pulpit? And it is well known that, among th«3 
members of the Catholic Church, those who avail 
themselves of the boon of Indulgences are usuaii} 
her most practical, edifying, and fervent children 
33* 



S90 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHKKS. 

And their spiritual growth, far from being letarded, 
is quickened by the aid of Indulgences, which are 
usually accompanied by acts of contrition, devotion, 
and self-denial, and by the reception of the Sacra- 
ments. 

But, do what we will, we cannot please our oppo- 
nents. If we fast and give aims ; if we crucify our 
flesh, and make pilgrimages and perform other works 
of penance, we are accused of clinging to the rags 
of dead works, instead of " holding on to Jesus " by 
faith. If, on the other hand, we enrich our souls 
with the treasures of Indulo:ences, we are charo^ed 
with relying on the vicarious merits of othei^s, 
and of lightening too much the salutary burden of 
the cross. And how can Protestants consistently 
and fault with the Church for mitigating the auster- 
ities of penance, since their own fundamental prin- 
ciple rest^ 071 faith alone without good worh f 

But have not Indulgences been the occasion of 
many abuses at various times, particulai'ly in the 
sixteenth century? 

I will not deny that Indulgences have been 
abused ; but are not the most sacred things liable to 
be perverted ? This is a proper place to refer briefly 
to the Bull of Pope Leo X. proclaiming the Indul- 
gence which afforded Luther a pretext for his apos- 
tacy. Lee determined to bring to completion the 
magnificent church of St. Peter, commenced by his 
predecessor Julius II., and with that view he issued 
a Bull promulgating an Indulgence to such as would 



INDULGENCES. 391 

contribute some voluntary offering towards the erec- 
tion of the grand cathedral. Those, however, who 
contributed nothing, shared equally in the treasury 
of the Church, provided they complied with the es- 
sential conditions for gaining the Indulgence, Th< 
only indispensable conditions enjoined by the Papal 
Bull, were sincere repentance and confession of sins 
D'Aubigne admits this truth, though in a faltering 
raanner, when he observes that " in the Pope's Bull 
something was said of the repentance of the heart, 
and the confession of the lips." ^ The applicants for 
the Indulgence knew well that, no matter how mu- 
nificent were their offerings, these would avail them 
nothing without true contrition of heart. 

Consequently, no traffic or sale of Indulgences was 
authorized or countenanced by the Head of the 
Church, since the contributions were understood to 
be voluntary. And, in order to check any soidid 
love of gain in those who were charged with preach- 
ing the Indulgence, " the hand that delivered the 
Indulgence,'' as D'Aubigne testifies, "could not 
receive the money : that w^as forbidden under the 
severest penalties." ^ 

Wherein, then, was the conduct of the Pope repre- 
hensible? Certainly not in soliciting the donations 
of the faithful for the purpose of erecting a temple 
of worship, a temple which to-day stands unrivelled 
in majesty and beauty ! 

^ Vol. I., p. 214. a 15^^- 



S92 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

" But thou of temples old, or altars ne^, 
Standest alone, with nothing like to thee. 
Worthiest of God, the holy and the true, 
Since Sion's desolation, when that He 
Forsook His former city, what could be 
Of earthly structures, in His honor piled, 
Of a sublimer aspect? Majesty, 
Power, Glory, Strength, and Beauty, all are aisled 
In this eternal ark of worship undeiiled.'^ ^ 

If Moses was justified in appealing to the Hebrew 
p3ople, in the Old Law, for offerings to adorn the 
tabernacle, why should not the Pope be equally 
justified in appealing for similar offerings to the 
Christian people, among whom he exercises supremo 
authority as Moses did among the Israelites? 

Nor did the Pope exceed his legitimate powers in 
promising to the pious donors spiritual favors in ex- 
change for their donations. For, if our sins can be 
redeemed by alms to the poor,^ as the Scripture tells 
us, why not as well by offerings in the cause of re- 
ligion ? When Protestant ministers appeal to their 
congregations in behalf of themselves and their 
children, or in support of a church, they do not fail 
to hold out to their hearers spiritual blessings in 
reward for their gifts. It is not long since a Meth- 
odist parson of New York addressed these sacred 
words to Cornelius Vanderbilt, the millionaire, who 
had endowed a Methodist college : " Cornelius, thy 
prayer is heard, and thy alms are had in remein- 

^ Byron. * Daniel iv. 24. 



INDULGENCES. 393 

brance in the sight of God." ^ The minister is more 
indulgent than even the Pope, to whom were given 
the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; for, the minister 
declares Cornelius absolved without the preliminary 
of Confession or contrition, while even, according to 
D'Aubigne, the inflexible Pope insisted on the nec^s 
sity of " repentance of the heart, and Confession of 
the lips," before the donor's offering could avail hia 
to salvation. 

John Tetzel, a Dominican monk, who was ap- 
pointed the chief preacher to announce the Indul- 
gence in Germany, was accused, by Luther, of ex- 
ceeding his powers by making them subservient to 
his own private ends. Tetzel's conduct was dis- 
avowed and condemned by the representative of the 
Holy See. The Council of Trent, which was held 
some time afterwards, took effectual measures to put 
a stop to all irregularities regarding Indulgences, 
and issued the following decree : *' Wishing to cor- 
rect and amend the abuses which have crept into 
them, and on occasion of which, this signal name of 
Indulgences is blasphemed by heretics, the holy 
Synod enjoins in general, by the present decree, that 
all wicked traffic for obtaining them, which has beeii 
the fruitful source of many abuses among the Chris- 
tian peopk, should be wholly abolished." '^ 

* Acte X 31 * Sess. xxv, Dec. de Indulgentiis. 



894 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

EXTREME UNCTION. 

EXTREME Unction is a Sacrament in which the 
sick, by being anointed with holy oil, and by 
the prayers of the priests, receive spiritual succor, 
and even corporal strength when it is conducive to 
their salvation. This unction is called JExtreme, 
because it is usually the last of the holy unctions 
administered by the Church. 

The Apostle St. James clearly refers to this Sacra- 
ment, and points out its efficacy in the following 
words : " Is any man sick among you; let him bring 
in the priests of the Church, and let them pray over 
him, anointing him with oil in the name of the 
Lord, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick 
man ; and the Lord shall raise him up ; and if he 
be in sins, they shall be forgiven him." ^ 

Several of the ancient Fathers allude to this Sac- 
rament. Origen (third century) writes: "There is 
also a remission of sins through penitence, when the 
sinner ... is not ashamed to declare his sin to the 
priest of the Lord, and to seek a remedy . . . 
wherein that also is fulfilled w^iich the Apostle 
James saith : ^But if any he siek among you, let him 
call in the priests of the Church, and let them impost 
hands on him, anointing him with oil in the name of 
theLordy 

^ James v. 14, 15. * Homil ii. in Levit 



EXTREME UNCTION. 395 

St. Chrysostom (fourth century) says : " Not only 
when they (the priests) regenerate us, but they 
have also power to forgive sins committed after- 
wards ; for he says: 'Is any man sick among you; 
let him call in the priests of the Church, and let 
them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the 
name of the Lord.' " ^ 

Pope Innocent I. (fifth century), in a letter to 
a bishop named Decentius, after quoting the words 
of St. James, proceeds : " These words, there is no 
doubt, ought to be understood of the faithful who 
are sick, who can be anointed with the holy oil, 
which, having been prepared by a bishop, may be 
used not only for priests, but for all Christians." ^ 

The Sacramentary, or ancient Roman Ritual, re- 
vised by Pope St. Gregory in the sixth century, 
prescribes the blessing of oil by the bishop, and the 
prayers to be recited in the anointing of the sick. 

The venerable Bede of England, who lived in the 
eighth centmry, referring to the words of St. James, 
writes : " The custom of the Church requires that 
the sick be anointed by the priests with consecrated 
oil, and be sanctified by the prayer which accom- 
panies it." ^ 

The Greek church, which separated from the 
Roman Catholic Church in the ninth century, says 
in its profession of faith : " The seventh Sacrament 
is Extreme Unction, prescribed by Christ ; for, after 

* Lib. iii. de Sacerd. ' Epist. xxv. ad Decentum. 

^ Comment in locum. 



896 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

He had begun to send His disciples two and two, 
(Mark vi. 7-13,) they anointed and healed many, 
which unction the Church has since maintained by 
pious usage, as we learn from the Epistle of St. 
James: ^ Is any man sick among you^ etc. The 
fruits proper to this Sacrament, as St. James de* 
clares, are the remission of sins, health of soul, 
strength, in fine, of body. But though it does not 
always produce this last result, it always at least 
restores the soul to a better state, by the forgiveness 
of sins/' This is precisely the Catholic teaching on 
this subject. All the other Oriental churches, some 
of which separated from Rome in the fifth century, 
likewise enumerate Extreme Unction among their 
Sacraments. 

Such identity of doctrine proclaimed during so 
many ages, by churches so wide apart, can have no 
other than an Apostolic origin. 

The eminent Protestant Leibnitz makes this 
candid admission : " There is no room for much 
discussion regarding the unction of the sick. It is 
supported by the words of Scripture, the interpreta- 
tion of the Church, in which pious and Catholic 
men safely confide. Nor do I see what any one can 
find reprehensible in that practice which the Church 
accepts." ^ 

Protestants, though professing to be guided by the 
Holy Scripture, entirely disregard the admonition 

1 Systema TheoL, p. 280. 



THE PRIESTHOOD. 397 

of St. Jaaies. Luther acted rrith more cousistency. 
Finding that the injunction of the Apostle was too 
plain to be explained away by subtlety of words, he 
boldly rejected the entire Epistle, which he con- 
temptuously styled " a letter of straw." ^ 

It is sad to think that our separated brethren 
discard this consoling instrument of grace, though 
pressed upon them by an Apostle of Jesus Christ ; 
for, surely a spiritual medicine which diminishes 
the terrors of death, comforts the dying Christian, 
fortifies the soul in its final struggle, and purifies it 
for its passage from time to eternity, should be 
gratefully and eagerly availed of, especially wheu 
prescribed by an inspired Physician. 



CHAPTER XXYIII. 

THE PRIESTHOOD. 

THE Apostles were clothed with the powers of 
Jesus Christ. The Priest, as the successor of 
the Apostles, is clothed wdth their power. This fact 
reveals to us the eminent dignity of the priestly 
character. 

The exalted dignity of the Priest is derived not 
from the personal merits for which he may be con- 
spicuous, but from the sublime functions which 

^ Lib. de Captiv. BahvL 
U 



398 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

he is charged to perform. To the carnal eye, the 
Priest looks like other men, but to the eye of faith, 
he is exalted above the angels, because he exercises 
powers not given even to angels. 

The Priest is the ambassador of God, appointed 
to vindicate His honor and to proclaim His glory 
" We are ambassadors for Christ," says the Apostle ; 
" God, as it were, exhorting by us." ^ If it is 
esteemed a great privilege for a citizen of the United 
Stales to represent our country in any of the courts 
of Europe, how much greater is the prerogative to 
represent the court of heaven among the nations of 
the earth ! " As the Father hath sent Me," says our 
Lord to Plis Apostles, " I also send you." ^ ** Going, 
therefore, teach ye all nations, .... teaching them 
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded 
you. And, behold, 1 am with you all days, even to 
the consummation of the world." ^ The jurisdiction 
of earthly representatives is limited, but the au- 
thority of the ministers of God extends over the 
whole earth. " Go ye into the whole world, and 
preach the Gospel," says Christ, " to every crea- 
ture." * 

Not only does Jesus empower His ministers to 
preach in His name, but He commands their beard's 
to listen and obey. *' Whosoever will not receive 
you, nor hear your words, going forth from that 
house or city, shake off the dust from your leet. 

1 11. Cor. V. 20. 2 joiin xx. 21. ^ Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. 
* Mark xvi. 15. 



THE PRIESTHOOD. SySf 

A.men, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for 
the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judg- 
ment, than for that city." ^ " He that heareth you, 
heareth Me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth 
Me; and he that despiseth Me, despiseth Him that 
gent Me." ' 

God requires not only that His Gospel should be 
heard with reverence, but that the persons of His 
Apostles should be honored. And as no greater 
Insult can be offered to a nation than to insult its 
representative at a foreign court, so no greater injury 
can be offered to our Lord than to do violence to 
His representatives, the Priests of His Church. 
'' Touch not My anointed, and do no evil to My 
prophets." * God avenged the crime of two and forty 
boys who mocked the prophet Eliseus, by sending 
wild beasts that tore them in pieces. And the fright- 
ful death of Maria Monk, the calumniator of con- 
secrated Priests and Virgins, who ended her life a 
drunken maniac on BlackwelFs Island, proves that 
our religious institutions are not to be mocked with 
impunity. 

When an ambassador is accredited to a foreign 
court, from this country, he is honored with the con- 
fidence of the President, from whom he receives pri 
v^ate instructions. So does Jesus honor His ambas- 
sadors with His friendship, and He communicates 
to them the secrets of heaven : " I will not now call 
you servants ; for, the servant knoweth not what his 

^ Matt. X. 14. 15. 2 Luke x. 16. ^ Paralip. xvi. 22. 



iOO THE FAITH OF OUR FATHJEES. 

Lord dcyetli. But I have called you friends, because 
all things whatsoever I have heard of My Father, 1 
have made JvDown to you." ^ 

What a privilege to be the herald of God's la\\ 
to the nations of the earth : " How beautiful on 
the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth 
good tidings, and that preacheth peace : of him that 
showeth forth good, that preacheth salvation, that 
saith to Sion : Thy God shall reign." ^ How 
cherished a favor to be the bearer of the olive-branch 
of peace to a world deluged by sin ; to be appointed 
by Heaven to proclaim that Gospel which brings 
glory to God, and peace to men ; that Gospel 
which strengthens the weak, converts the sinner, 
reconciles enemies, and consoles the afflicted heart, 
and holds out to all the hope of eternal salvation ! 

Not only are Priests the ambassadors of God, but 
they are also the clisjjensers of His graces, and the 
almoners of His mercy. " Let a man so regard us," 
says the Apostle, " as ministers of Christ, and dis- 
pensers of the mysteries of God." ^ 

How can he be called a dispenser of God's mys- 
teries, whose labors are confined to preaching ? But 
he is truly a dispenser of divine mysteries who dis- 
tributes to the faithful the sacraments, the mysteri- 
ous symbols, and efficient causes of grace. 

As St. John Chrysostom observes, it was nor to 
angels or archangels, but to the Priests of the Mew 
Law that Christ said : " Whatsoever you shall bind 

* JoliD XV. 15. 2 Isaiah lii. 7. ^ I. Cor. iv. 1. 



THE PRIESTHOOD. ^)1 

on earth, shall be bound also in heaven ; and what- 
soever you shall loose on earth, shall be loosed also 
in heaven." To them alone He gave the power to 
forgive sins, saying : " Whose sins you shall forgive, 
thev are foro^iven." To thera alone He o^ave the 
power of consecrating His body and blood, and dis- 
pensing the same to the faithful. He has empowered 
the Priests of the New Law to impart the grace of 
regeneration in Baptism. He has assigned to them 
the solemn duty of preparing the dying Christian 
for his final journey to eternity ; '* Is any man sick 
among you? Let him bring in the priests of the 
Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him 
with oil, in the name of the Lord." ^ 

As far as heaven is above earth, as eternity is 
above time, and the soul is above the body, so far 
are the prerogatives vested in God's ministers higher 
than those of any earthly potentate. An earthly 
prince can cast into prison or release therefrom. 
But his power is over the body. He cannot pene- 
trate into the sanctuary of the soul. But the minister 
of God can release the soul from the prison of sin, 
and restore it to the liberty of a child of God. 

To sum up in one sentence the titles of a Cath- 
olic Priest : 

He is a king, reigning not over unwilling subjects, 
but over the hearts and affections of his people. 

He is a shepherd, because he leads his flock into 
the delicious pastures of the sacraments, and shelters 

^ James v. 14. 
34* 2A 



402 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

them from the wolves that lie Id wait for their 
8011 Is. 

He is a father, because he breaks the bread of i iff 
to his spiritual children, whom he has begotteji in 
Christ Jesus through the Gospel.^ 

He is a judge, whose office it is to pass sentence 
of pardon on self-accusing criminals. 

He is a physician, because he heals their souls 
from the loathsome distempers of sin. 

St. John, in his Apocalypse, represents the Church 
under the figure of a city. " I saw the holy city, the 
new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, from God, 
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." * 
Our Saviour is the Architect and Founder of this 
celestial city. The Apostles are its foundation. 
The faithful are the living stones of the edifice. 
The anointed ministers of the Lord are the work- 
men chosen to adjust and polish these stones, that 
they may reflect the beauty and glory of the sun of 
justice that perpetually illumines this city. The 
Priests are engaged in adorning the interior of the 
heavenly Jerusalem, by enriching, with virtue, the 
precious souls entrusted to their charge. " God gave 
some, indeed. Apostles, and some prophets, and others 
Evangelists, and others pastors and doctors, for the 
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, 
for the building up of the body of Christ,"^ which 
is His Church. What an honor is this to the Priest 

* I, Cor. iv 15. ^ Apoc. xxi. 2. 

8 Eph. iv. 11, 12. 



THE PRIESTHOOD. 403 

of the New Law ! Surely God "hath not done alike 
to every cation, and His judgments He hath not 
made manifest to them." ^ 

With how much more force may vre apply to the 
successors of the Apostles the words which (rod 
spoke to the Priests of the Old Law : ** Hear, ye 
sons of Levi. Is it a small thing unto you, that the 
God of Lsrael hath separated you from all the 
people, and joined you to Himself, that ye should 
serve Him in the service of the tabernacle, and 
should stand before the congregation of the people, 
and minister unto Him ? " 

Our Saviour affectionately puts this question three 
times to Peter: ''Simon, loyest thou Me?" And 
three times Peter answers Him, " Lord, Thou know- 
est that I love Thee." What proof of love does 
then Jesus exact of Peter ? Does He say : If thou 
lovest Me, chastise thy body by fasting and stripes, 
prophesy, y>^ork miracles, lay down thy life for Me ? 
No, but"" feed My lambs," " feed My sheep." This 
was to be the closest bond of Peter's devotion to his 
Master, and of the Master's affection for His dis- 
ciple. 

And our Lord declares that the reward of His 
disciples would be commensurate with the dignity 
of their ministry: "Behold," says Peter, "we have 
left all things and have followed Thee. What, 
therefore, shall we have? And Jesus said to them, 
Amen, 1 say to you that you who have followed Me, 

^ Ps. cxlvii. 20. 



404 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit 
on the seat of His majesty, you shall also sit on 
twelve seat5, judging the twelv^e tribes of Israel." 
And immediately after. He adds that the worthy 
successors of the Apostles shall share in their felicity: 
'* And every one that hath left house, or brethren, 
or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, 
or lands for My name's sake, shall receive a hun- 
dred-fold, and shall possess life everlasting." ^ 

I know that there are many in our days who deny 
that Priests possess any spiritual power, as if God 
could not communicate such power to men. I un- 
derstand why atheists and rationalists, who reject all 
revelation, should deny all supernatural authority 
to the ministers of God. But that professing Chris- 
tians, who accept the testimony of Scripture, shouh) 
share in this unbelief, passes my comprehension. 

Has not the Almighty, in numberless instances 
recorded in Holy Writ, made man the instrument 
of His power? Did not Moses convert the rivers 
of Egypt into blood? Did he not cause water to 
issue from the barren rock ? Did not the prophets 
predict future events ? Did not the sun stop in the 
heavens, at the command of Josue ? Did not Eliseus, 
the prophet, raise the dead to life? Why do we 
believe all these prodigies ? Because the Scriptures 
record them. Does not the same Word of God de- 
clare that the Apostles received power to confer the 
Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands, to forgive 

1 Matt xix. 27-29. 



THE PRIESTHOOD. 405 

sins, to consecrate the body and blood of Christ, etc. ? 
And is not the New Testament as worthy of belief 
as the Old ? Has not Jesus Christ solemnly promised 
to be always with the ministers of His Church, " even 
to the consummation of the world," strengthening 
them to repeat those miracles of mercy that were 
wrought by His first disciples ? Can the God of 
truth be unfaithful to His promises? Is He not as 
strong and merciful now as He was in the days of 
the Prophets and Apostles, and are not we as much 
in need of the Holy Ghost as the primitive Chris- 
tians were? And if God could then make feeble 
men the ministers of His mercy, why not now? 

But should a Priest consider himself greater than 
other men, because he exercises such authority? 
Far from it; he ought to humble himself beneath 
others when he reflects to what weak hands God. 
assigns such tremendous power. He should remem* 
ber what our Saviour said to the seventy-two disci 
pies who, returning with joy from their first mission, 
cried out to Him : " Lord, even the devils are sub- 
ject to us in Thy name." But Jesus checked their 
vainglory, saying : " I saw Satan like lightning fall 
from heaven. Behold, I have given you power, . . . 
but rejoice not in this, that spirits are subject to you ; 
but rejoice in this, that your names are written in 
heaven." ^ The Priest does not forget that " the most 
severe judgment shall be for them that bear rule," " 
and *' that judgment should begin at the house of 

^ Luke X. 18, 20 2 ^y^g^^^ ^^ q^ 



406 THE FAITH OF OUE FATHERS. 

God." ^ The words of the Apostle are present to 
his mind : " What hast thou that thou hast not 
received? And if thou hast received, why dost 
thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?"'^ As 
well might the vessel which is filled with precious 
liquor, boast on that account of being superior to 
the vessel which is filled with water. The Priest 
knows full well that the powers he has received 
from God are given to him not to feed his own van- 
ity, but to enrich the hearts of the faithful ; and that 
though he may be instrumental in pointing out to 
others the way to heaven, he himself will become a 
reprobate, unless he is adorned with personal vir- 
tues ; like those unhappy priests of Jerusalem who 
directed ^he Magi to Jesus in Bethlehem, but did 
not go thither themselves. 

"I have planted," says the Apostle, "Apollo 
watered, but God gave the increase. Therefore 
neither he that planteth is anything, nor he that 
watereth, but God that giveth the increase."^ We 
perform the outward ceremony, God alone supplies 
the grace. 

The obligations of the minister of God are, there- 
fore, commensurate with his exalted dignity. 

The Priest is required to be a man of profound 
learning and of solid piety. " The lips of the priest 
Bhall keep knowledge, and they (the people) shall 
seek the law at his mouth." * As physician of the 

1 I. Pet. iv. 17. 2 1^ Cor. iv. 7. ^ I. Cor. iii. 6, 7. 

* Malach. ii. 7. 



THE PKIESTHOOD. 4«)7 

8oul, lie must be conversant with its various distem- 
pers, and raust know what remedy is to be applied 
in each particular case. If society justly holds the 
unskilful physician responsible for the fatal conse- 
quences of his malpractice, surely God will call to a 
strict account the spiritual physician who, through 
criminal ignorance, prescribes injudicious remedies 
to the souls of the patients committed to his charge. 

As judge of souls, he must know when to bind 
and when to loose ; when to defer and when to pro- 
nounce sentence of absolution. And if nothing is 
so disastrous to the republic as an incompetent 
judge, whose decisions, though involving life and 
death, are rendered at hap-hazard, and not in 
accordance with the merits of the case ; so nothing 
is more detrimental to the Christian commonwealth 
than an ignorant priesthood, whose decisions inju- 
riously aflect the salvation of souls. 

The advocate in our courts of justice feels bound 
in conscience and in honor to study the case of his 
client with the utmost diligence, and to defend him 
before the jury with all the eloquence which he can 
master. And yet the suit may not involve more 
than a brief imprisonment or even a limited fine. 

But the Priest, like Moses, stands before God to in- 
tercede for His people, and stands before the people 
to advocate the cause of God. For, he not only 
ascends daily the altar to plead for the people, and to 
cry out with the prophet, ''Spare, O Lord, spare Thy 
people, and give not Thy inheritance to reproach ; " 



4<)8 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

but every Sunday he mounts the pulpit to vindicate 
the claims which God has on His subjects ; and cer- 
tainly, if every attorney is bound to study his client's 
cause before he defends it, no matter how trifling the 
issue, how much more imperative is the obligation 
of tlie Priest to study well his case, when he retiects 
that an immortal soul is on trial, and before men 
who are often the worst enemies of their own souls. 
He has to convince the people that the narrow road 
is to be followed, which their inclinations abhor, and 
that the broad road is to be abandoned, which their 
self-love and their passions tend to pursue. Convic- 
tion in this case requires rare tact as well as eloquence 
and learning. 

But the minister of religion has to defend the soul 
not only against the corruptions of the heart, but 
also against those doctrinal errors which are daily 
springing up in every direction, and which are plausi- 
bly preached by false teachers, who bring to their 
support the most specious arguments, couched in the 
most attractive language. To refute these errors 
often requires the most consummate skill, and a pro- 
found knowledge of history and the Holy Scripture. 

It is no wonder, then, that the Church insists that 
her clergy be educated men. Hence our ecclesias- 
tical students are usually obliged to devote from ten 
to fourteen years to the diligent study of the modern 
and ancient languages, of history and philosophy, and 
the great science of theology and the Holy Scripture. 
before they are elevated to the sacred ministry. 



THE PRIESTHOOD. 409 

It is true indeed that, owing to the rapidly-increas- 
ing demand for clergy in the United States, our 
Bishops have hitherto been sometimes compelled to 
abridge the course of studies of the candidates for 
the ministry ; but now that the Church is more 
thoroughly organized, and that seminaries are mul- 
tiplied among us, they are happily enabled to extend 
to their young levites the advantages of a full term 
of a literary and theological training. 

If the Priest should be eminent for his learning, 
he should be still more conspicuous for his virtues, 
for he is expected to preach more by example than 
by precept. If in the Old Law God charged His 
priests with the admonition : " Be sanctified, ye that 
carry the vessels of the Lord,"^ how njuch more 
strictly is holiness of life enjoined on the Priests of 
the New Dispensation, who not only touch the sacred 
vessels, but drink from them the Precious Blood of 
the Lord ? 

" Purer," says St. Chrysostom, " than any solar ray, 
should that hand be which divides that flesh, that 
mouth which is filled with spiritual fire, that tongue 
which is purpled with that most awful blood. " 

In order to foster in us the spirit of persona] piety, 
we are constantly admonished by the Church to be 
men of prayer. The Priest should be like those an- 
gels whom Jacob saw in a vision, ascending to heaven 
and descending therefrom on the mystical ladder. 
He is expected to ascend by prayer, and to descend 

^ Tsaiah lii. 11. 
36 



410 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

by preaching. He ascends to heaven to receive 
light from God ; he descends to communicate that 
light to his hearers. He ascends to draw at the 
living Fountain of divine grace ; he descends to dii- 
fuse those living waters among the faithful, that their 
hearts may be refreshed. He ascends to light his 
torch at the ever-burning furnace of divine love, and 
descends to communicate the flame to the souls of 
his people. 

The Church, indeed, considers prayer so indis- 
pensable to her clergy, that, besides the voluntary 
exercises of piety which their private devotion may 
suggest, she requires them to devote at least an hour, 
each day, to the recitation of the divine office, which 
chiefly consists of the Psalms and other portions of 
Holy Scripture, the Homilies of the early Fathers, 
and prayers of marvellous force and unction. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY. 

nj^HE Church requires her Priests to be pure in 
X body as well as in soul, and to " present their 
bodies a living victim, holy, well -pleasing unto 
God." ' 

Our Saviour and His Apostles, though recogniz- 
ing matrimony as a holy state, have proclaimed the 

^ Rom. xii. 1. 



CELIBACY, ETC. 411 

superior merits of voluntary continency, particularly 
for those who consecrate their lives to the sacred 
ministry. ^' There are eunuchs who have made them- 
selves such for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He 
who can take it, let him take it." ^ Our Lord evi- 
dently recommends here the state of celibacy to such 
as feel themselves called to embrace it, in order to 
attain greater perfection. 

St. Paul gives the reason w^hy our Saviour declares 
continency to be a more suitable state for His minis- 
ters than that of matrimony : " He who is unmarried, 
careth for the things of the Lord, how he may please 
God. But he who is married, is solicitous about the 
things of the world, how he may please his wife, and 
he is divided," ^ 

Jesus Christ manifestly showed His predilection 
for virginity, not only by always remaining a Virgin, 
but also by selecting a Virgin-Mother, and a Virgin- 
precursor in the person of St. John the Baptist, and 
by exhibiting a special affection for John the Evan- 
gelist, because, as St. Augustine testifies, that Apostle 
w^as chosen a Virgin, and such he always remained. 

Not only did our Lord thus manifest, while on 
earth, a marked predilection for virgins, but He ex- 
hibits the same preference for them in heaven ; for, 
the hundred and forty-four thousand, who are chosen 
to sing the New Canticle, and who follow the Lamb 
whithersoever He goeth, are all Virgins, as St. John 
testifies. (Apoc. xiv.) 

1 Matt. xix. 12. 2 T^ Qqj,^ ^|.^ 32 33^ 



412 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

The Apostle of the Gentiles assures us that he led 
a single life, and he commends that state to others : 
" I say to the unmarried, and to the widows, it is 
good for them if they so continue, even as I." ^ 

There is no evidence from Scripture, that any of 
the Apostles were married except St. Peter. St. 
Jerome says that if any were married, they certainly 
separated from their wives, after they were called to 
the Apostolate. Even St. Peter, after his vocation, 
did not continue with his wife, as may be inferred 
from his own words : " Behold, we have left all 
things, and followed Thee.'' ^ Among " all things " 
must be reckoned the fellowship of his wife ; for, he 
could hardly say with truth that he had left all 
things, if he did not leave his wife. And our Saviour 
immediately afterwards enumerates the wife among 
those cherished objects, the renunciation of which, 
for His sake, will have its reward.^ 

St. Paul declares that " a bishop must be sober, 
just, holy, continent." * And writing to Timothy, 
whom he had consecrated Bishop, he says : *' Be thou 
an example to the faithful .... in charity, in faith, 
in chastity^ ^ And in another place, he enumerates 
chastity among the virtues which should adorn the 
Christian minister: "In all things, let us exliibit 
ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience, 
.... in chastity."® 

» 1. Cor. vii. 8. ^ jy^j^^t^ ^ix. 27. ^ Ibid. xix. 29. 

* Tit. i, 8. ^ 1. Tim. iv. 12. « II. Cor. vi. 46. 



CELIBACY, ETC. 413 

Although celibacy is not expressly enforced by 
our Saviour, it is, however, commended so strongly 
by Himself and His Apostles, both by word and 
example, that the Church felt it to be her duty to 
enforce it as a law. 

The discipline of the Church has been exerted 
from the beginning, in prohibiting Priests to marry 
after their ordination. St. Jerome observes that 
" bishops, priests, and deacons are chosen from vir- 
gins or widowers, or at least, they remain perpetu- 
ally chaste after being elevated to the priesthood." ^ 
And to Jovinian, he writes : " You certainly admit 
that he cannot remain a bishop who begets children 
in the Episcopacy ; for, if convicted, he will not be 
esteemed as a husband, but condemned as an adul- 
terer."^ And again he says: "What will the 
churches of the East, of Egypt, and of the Apos- 
tolic See do, which adopt their clergy from among 
virgins, or if they have wives, they cease to live as 
married men." ^ 

St. Epiphanius declares that "he who leads a 
married life is not admitted by the Church to the 
order of deacon, priest, bishop, or sub-deacon." * 

In the primitive days of the Church, owing to the 
scarcity of vocations among the unmarried, married 
men were admitted to sacred orders, but they were 
enjoined, as we learn from various canons, to live 
separated from their wives after their ordination. 

^ Ep. ad Pammach. ^ Adv. Jovin., lib. J. 

* Adv. Vigilantium. * Haeres. 59, c. 4. 

35* 



414 THE FAITH OF OlTK FATHERS. 

This discipline, it is true, was relaxed to some 
extent in favor of a portion of the clergy of the 
Oriental cluirch, who were permitted to live with 
their wives, if they happened to espouse them 
before ordination ; but, like the priests of the West- 
ern church, the Eastern clergy were forbidden to 
contract marriage after their ordination. It is im- 
portant also to observe that the unmarried clergy 
of the East are held in much higher esteem by the 
people than the married priests. 

It cannot indeed be denied that at certain epochs 
of the Church's history, especially in periods of dis- 
ordered society, there were too many instances of the 
violation of clerical celibacy. But the repeated vio- 
lations of a law are no evidence of its non-existence. 
And whenever the voice of the Church could be 
heard, it always spoke in vindication of the law of 
priestly chastity. 

Let me now call your attention to the propriety 
and advantages of clerical celibacy. 

1st. The Priest is the representative of Jesus 
Christ. He continues the work begun by his divine 
Master. It is his duty to preach the word, to admin- 
ister the sacraments, and, above all, to consecrate the 
body and blood of Christ, and to distribute the same 
to the faithful. Is it not becoming that a chaste 
Lord should be served by chaste ministers ? 

If the Jewish priests, while engaged in their turn, 
in offering the sacrifice of animals in the Temple, 
were obliged to keep apart from their wives, shouul 



CELIBACY, ETC. 415 

not the Priests of the New Law practise continual 
tjhastity, who offer daily the sacrifice of the Immac- 
uhite Lamb? 

If David and his friends were not permitted to 
eat the bread of Proposition till he had avowed that 
for the three preceding days they had refrained 
from women/ how pure in body and soul should 
be the Priest who daily partakes of that living 
Bread of which the bread of Proposition vv^as but 
the type ; and if the people at Mount Sinai were 
forbidden to come near their v/ives for three dayy 
before receiving the Law,' should not they abstain 
altogether whose office it ii to preach the Law at 
all times ? 

Thorndyke, an eminent Protestant divine, in his 
work entitled, Just Weights and Measures, makes thij 
following observation : " The reason for single life 
for the clergy is firmly grounded, by the Fathers and 
canons of the Church, upon the precept of St. Paul, 
forbidding man and wife to depart unless for a time, 
to attend unto prayer (1 Cor. vii. 5). For, priests 
and deacons being continually to attend upon occa- 
sions of celebrating the Eucharist, which ought con- 
tinually to be frequented ; if others be to abstain 
from the use of marriage for a time, then they 
always.*' ^ 

2d. Writers frequently discuss the secret cause of 
the marvelous success which marks the growth of 
the Catholic Church everywhere, in spite of the most 
formidable opposition. Some ascribe this progress 

' T KiiiffP Txi. ^ Exod. xix. » Pap-p 239 



416 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

to her thorough organization ; others to the far-seeing 
wisdom of her chief pastors. Without undervalu- 
ing these and other auxiliaries, I incline to the be- 
lief that, under God, the Church has no tower of 
strength more potent than the celibacy of her 
clergy. The unmarried Priest, as St. Paul ob- 
serves (1 Cor. vii.), is free to give his whole time 
undivided to the Lord, and can devote his attention 
not to one or two children, but to the entire flock 
whom he has begotten in Christ Jesus, through the 
Gospel ; while the married minister is divided be- 
tween the cares of his family and his duties to the 
congregation. ''A single life," says Bacon, " doth 
well with churchmen ; for, charity will hardly water 
the ground, where it must first fill a pool." ^ 

3d. The world has hitherto been converted by un- 
married clergymen, and only by them will it con- 
tinue to be converted. St. Francis Xavier and St. 
Francis de Sales could not have planted the faith in 
so many thousands of souls, if they were accompa- 
nied on their journeys by their wives and children. 
Of all the gems that adorn the priestly diadem, none 
is so precious and indispensable in the eyes of the 
people as the peerless jewel of chastity. Without 
this pearl, the voice of a Hyacinthe " becomes as 
sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal ; " with it, the 
humblest missioner gains the hearts of multitudes. 

Everybody is aware of the numerous conversions 

^ Essays, p. 17. 



CELIBACY, ETC. 417 

to Christianity effected by St. Francis Xavier ir 
Japan, in the sixteenth century. After the lapse of 
many years from the death of St. Francis, when a 
French squadron was permitted to enter the Japan- 
ese ports, a native Christian, named Peter, having 
learned that French Priests were on board, put their 
faith to the test, by proposing to them these three 
questions : "Are you followers of the great Father in 
Rome ? Do you honor Mary, the Blessed Virgin ? 
Have you wives ? " The French Priests having satis- 
fied their interrogator on these points, and especially 
on the last, Peter and his companions fell at the 
missioners' feet, exclaiming with delight : " Thanks, 
thanks ! they are virgins and true disciples of our 
Apostle Francis." ^ 

A cotemporary writer has wittily remarked, that 
" perhaps the most ardent admirer of hymeneal rites 
would cheerfully admit that he could not conceive 
St. Paul or St. John starting on a nuptial tour, ac- 
companied by the latest fashions from Athens or 
Ephesus, and the graceful brides whom they were 
destined to adorn. They would feel that Christian- 
ity itself could not survive such a vision as that. 
Nor could the imagination picture, in its wildest 
moods, the majestic adversary of the Arian emperor 
attended in his flight up the Nile by Mistress Atha 
nasius, nor St. John Chrysostom escorted in his wan 
derings through Phrygia by the wife of his bosom 
arj'ayed in a wreath of orange-blossoms. Would 

' Annals of the Propagation of die Faith, March, 1868, 
2B 



418 THE FAITH OF OTJR FATHERS. 

Etlielbert have become a Christian, if St. Augustice 
had introduced to him his lady and her brides- 
maids?''' 

We frequently hear of unmarried Bishops and 
Priests laying down their lives for the faith in 
Chii]a and Corea, and imprisoned in Germany. 
But such heroic sacrifices are too much to be ex- 
pected from men enjoying the domestic luxury, and 
engrossed by the responsibility of a wife and chil- 
dren. 

But does not St. Paul authorize the marriage of 
the clergy when he says : " Have we not power to 
carry about a woman, a sister, as v/ell as the rest of 
the Apostles ? " ^ The Protestant text mistranslates 
this passage by substituting the word ivife for woman. 
It is evident that St. Paul does not speak here of 
his wife, since he had none; but he alludes to 
those pious women who voluntarily waited on the 
Apostles, and ministered to them in their missionary 
journeys. 

It is also objected that the Apostle seems to re- 
quire that a Bishop be " the husband of one wife.'' ' 
The context certainly cannot mean that a Bishop 
must be a married man, for the reason already given, 
that St. Paul himself was never married. The sense 
of the text, as all tradition testifies, is that no candi- 
date should be elected to the office of Bishop who 
had been married more than once. It was not pos 

^ Marshall, Comedy of Convocation. ^ I. Cor. ix. b 

3 I. Tim. iii. 2. 



CELIBACY, ETC. 419 

sible in those days always to select single men foi 
the Episcopal office. Hence the Church was often 
compelled to choose married persons, but always 
with this restriction, that they had never contracted 
nuptials a second time. They were obliged, more- 
over, if not widowers, to live separated from their 
wives. 

Others adduce against clerical celibacy these 
words of St. Paul : " In the last times, some shall 
depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of 
error, .... forbidding to marry." ^ But this pas- 
sage alludes to the Ebionites, Gnostics, and Mani- 
cheans, who positively taught that marriage is 
sinful. The Catholic Church, on the contrary, holds 
that matrimony is not only a lawful state for those 
who are called to embrace it, but that it is also a 
sacrament, and that the highest degree of holiness 
is attainable in conjugal life. 

Some go so far as to declare continency imprac- 
ticable. Our dissenting brethren in the ministry 
are so uxoriously inclined, that, perhaps, for this 
reason they dispute the possibility, as well as the 
privilege, of Priests to remain single. But in making 
this assertion they impugn the wisdom of Jesus 
Christ and His Apostle, who lived in this state and 
recommended it to others ; they slander consecrated 
Priests and nuns, and they unwittingly question the 
j)urity of their own unmarried sisters, daughters, 
and sons. How many men and women are there in 

^I. Tim. iv. 1-3. 



420 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

the world who spend years, nay, their whole lives, 
in the single state? And who shall dare to accuse 
such a multitude of incontinency ? 

Nor should any one complain of the severity of 
the law of clerical celibacy, since the candidate 
voluntarily accepts the obligations after mature con- 
sideration. 

Finally, it cannot be urged against celibacy, that 
it violates the divine precept to " increase and mul- 
tiply ; " for, this command surely cannot require 
all marriageable persons to be united in wedlock. 
Otherwise, bachelors and spinsters would also be 
guilty of violating the law. The number of men 
and women consecrated to God by vows of chastity 
forms but an imperceptible fraction of the human 
family, their proportion in the United States, for 
instance, being only one individual to about every 
four thousand. And, moreover, it is an incontro- 
vertible fact that the population increases most in 
those countries in which the Catholic clergy exercise 
the strongest influence ; for, there married people are 
impressed with the idea that marriage was instituted 
not for the gratification of the flesh, but for the pro- 
creation and Christian education of children. 



MATRIMONY. 42i 

CHAPTER XXX. 

MATRIMONY. 

MATRIMONY is not only a natural contract be- 
tween husband and wife, but it has been elevated 
for Christians, by Jesus Christ, to the dignity of a sac- 
rament: ''Husbands," says the Apostle, "love your 
wives, as Christ also loved the Church and delivered 
Himself up for it, .... so also ought men to love 

their wives as their own bodies For this cause 

shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall 
adhere to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh. 
This is a great sacrament : but I speak in Christ and 
in the Church. " ^ 

In these words the Apostle declares that the union 
of Christ with His Church is the type or model of 
the bond subsistino; between man and wife. Now 
the union between Christ and His Church is super- 
natural and sealed by divine grace. Hence, also, 
is the fellowship of a Christian husband and wife 
c-emented by the grace of God. The wedded couple 
are bound to love one another during their whole 
lives, as Christ has loved His Church, and to dis- 
charge the virtues proper to the marriage state. In 
order to fulfil these duties, special graces of our 
Saviour are required. 

The Fathers and Councils and Liturgies of the 

1 Ephes. V. 25-32, 
36 



452 THE FAITH OF OTTR FATHEKB. 

Western and the Oriental churches, including the 
Coptic, Jacobite, Syriac, Nestorian, and other schis- 
matic bodies, which for upwards of fourteen cen- 
turies have been separated from the Catholic com- 
munion, all agree in recognizing Christian marriage 
as a sacrament. 

Hence the Council of Trent, speaking of Matri- 
mony, says : " Christ Himself, the Institutor and Per- 
fector of the venerable sacraments, merited for us by 
His passion the grace which might perfect that nat- 
ural love, and confirm that indissoluble union, and 
sanctify the married ; as the Apostle Paul intimates, 
saying: ^Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also 
loved the Church, and delivered Himself for it ; ' add- 
ing shortly after : ' This is a great sacrament, but 
I speak in Christ and in the Church. ' (Ephes. v.) 
Whereas therefore matrimony, in the evangelical 
law, excels in grace, through Christ, the ancient mar- 
riages ; with reason have our holy Fathers and Coun- 
cils and the tradition of the universal Church, always 
taught that it is to be numbered among the sacra- 
ments of the new law." ^ 

The Gospel forbids a man to have more than one 
wife, and a wife to have more than one husband. 
'' Have you not read," says our Saviour, " that He 
who made man in the beginning, made them male 
and female? And He said, for this cause shall a 
man leave father and mother, and shall cleave unto 
his mife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Wherefore 



MATRIMONTC. 428 

they are no more two, but one flesh. " ^ Our Lord 
recalls marriage to its primitive institution, as it was 
ordained by Almighty God (Gen. ii.). Now, mar- 
riage in its primitive ordinance, was the union of 
one man with one woman ; for, Jehovah created but 
one helpmate to Adam. He would have created 
more, if His design had been to establish polygamy. 
The Scripture says that " man shall adhere to his 
ivlfe/' not his wives. It does not declare that they 
shall be three or more, but that " they shall be two 
in one flesh. '' 

Hence Mormonism, unhappily so prevalent in the 
United States, is at variance with the plain teachings 
of the Gospel, and is consequently condemned by 
the Catholic Church. Polygamy, wherever it exists, 
cannot fail to be a perpetual source of family discord 
and feuds. It fosters deadly jealousy and hate 
among the wives of the same household ; it deranges 
the laws of succession and primogeniture, and breeds 
rivalry among the children, each endeavoring to sup- 
plant the other in the afiections and the inheritance 
of their common father. 

Marriage is the most inviolable and irrevocable 
of all contracts that were ever formed. Every hu- 
man compact may be lawfully dissolved but this. 
Nations may be justified in abrogating treaties with 
each other ; merchants may dissolve partnerships ; 
brothers will eventually leave the paternal roof, and 
separate from one another, like Jacob and Esau. 

^ Matt. xix. 4-6. 



424 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Friends, like Abraham and Lot, may be obliged to 
part company. But by the law of God, the bond 
uniting husband and wife can be dissolved only by 
death. No earthly sword can sever the nuptial knot 
which the Lord has tied ; for, " what God hath joined 
together, let not man put asunder. " 

It is worthy of remark, that three of the Evange- 
lists, as well as the Apostle of the Gentiles, proclaim 
the indissolubility of marriage, and forbid a wedded 
person to engage in second wedlock during the life 
of his spouse. There is scarcely indeed a moral pre- 
cept more strongly enforced in the Gospel than the 
indissoluble character of marriage validly contracted. 

The Pharisees came to Jesus, " tempting Him, and 
saying : Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife 
for every cause ? Who, answering, said to them : 
Have ye not read that He who made man from the 
beginning, made them male and female? And He 
said : For this cause shall a man leave father and 
mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two 
shall be one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, 
but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined to- 
gether, let no man put asunder. They say to Him : 
Why then did Moses command to give a bill of 
divorce and to put away? He saith to them: Be- 
cause Moses, by reason of the hardness of your 
heart, permitted you to put away your wives ; but 
from the beginning it was not so. And I say to 
you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except 
it be for fornication, and shall marry another, com- 



MATRIMONY. 426 

mitteth adultery : and be that shall marry her that 
is put away, committeth adultery/' ^ Our Saviour 
here emphatically declares that the nuptial boud is 
ratified by God Himself, and hence that no man, 
nor any legislation framed by men, can validly dis- 
solve the contract. 

To the Pharisees interposing this objection, if 
marriage is not to be dissolved, why then did Moses 
command to gi^e a divorce, our Lord replies that 
Moses did not command, but simply permitted tho 
separation, and that in tolerating this indulgence^ 
the great lawgiver had regard to the violent passion 
of the Jewish people, who would fall into a greater 
excess, if their desire to be divorced and to form a 
new alliance were refused. But our Saviour re- 
minded them that in the primitive times no such 
license was granted. 

He then plainly aflSrms that such a privilege 
would not be conceded in the New Dispensation ; for, 
He adds : " I say to you : whosoever shall put away 
his wife, and shall marry another, committeth adul- 
tery." Protestant commentators erroneously assert 
that the text justifies an injured husband in separat- 
ing from his adulterous wife, and in marrying again. 
But the Catholic Church explains the Gospel in the 
sense that, while the ofifended consort may obtain a 
divorce from bed and board from his unfaithful 
wife, he is not allowed a divorce a vinculo matrimonii^ 
so as to have the privilege of marrying another. 

^ Matt. xix. 3-9. 
36^ 



426 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

This interpretation is confirmed by the concurrent 
testimony of the Evangelists Mark and Luke, and 
by St. Paul ; all of whom prohibit divorce a vinculo, 
without any qualification whatever. 

In St. Mark we read : '' Whosoever shall put away 
his wife and marry -another, committeth adultery 
against her. And if the wife shall put away her 
husband and be married to another, she committeth 
adultery." ^ 

The same unqualified declaration is made by St. 
Luke : " Every one that putteth away his wife and 
marrieth another, committeth adultery; and he that 
marrieth her that is put aw^ay from her husband, 
committeth adultery." ^ Both of these Evangelists 
forbid either husband or wife to enter into second 
wedlock, how aggravating soever may be the cause 
of their separation. And surely, if the case of adul- 
tery authorized the aggrieved husband to marry 
another wife, those inspired penmen would not have 
Tailed to mention that qualifying circumstance. 

Passing liom the Gospels to the Epistle of St. 
Paul to the Corinthians, we find there also an un- 
qualified prohibition of divorce. The Apostle is 
writing to a city newly converted to the Christian 
religion. Among other topics, he inculcates the 
doctrine of the Church respecting Matrimony. We 
must suppose that as an inspired writer and a faith- 
ful minister of the Word, he discharges his duty 
conscientiously, without suppressing or extenuating 

1 Mark X. 11, 12. '' Luke xvi. IS, 



MATRIMONY. 427 

one iota of the law. He addresses the Corinthians 
as follows : " To them that are married, not I, but 
ihe Lord coramandeth that the wife depart not from 
her husband. And if she depart, that she remain 
unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And 
let not the husband put away his wife." ^ Here we 
find the Apostle, in his Master's name, commanding 
the separated couple to remain unmarried, without 
any reference to the case of adultery. And if such 
an important exception existed, St. Paul would not 
have omitted to mention it; otherwise he would 
have rendered the Gospel yoke more grievous than 
its Founder intended. 

We must therefore admit that, according to tint 
religion of Jesus Christ, conjugal infidelity does noi 
warrant either party to marry again, or we arf 
forced to the conclusion that the vast number of 
Christians whose knowledge of Christianity was de 
rived solely from the teachings of Saints Mark, 
Luke, and Paul, were imperfectly instructed iii 
their faith. 

Nor can we suppose that St. Matthew gave to the 
married Christians of Palestine a privilege which 
St. Paul withheld from the Corinthians ; for then 
the early Christian Church might have witnessed 
the disedifying spectacle of aggrieved husbands 
seeking in Judea for a divorce from their adulterous 
wives which they could not obtain in Corinth ; just 
as discontented spouses, in our times, sue in a neigh- 

1 1. Cor. vii. la 11. 



428 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

boring State for a legal separation which is denied 
them in their own. Christ is not divided, nor do the 
Apostles contradict each other. 

The Catholic Church, following the light of the 
Gospel, forbids a divorced man to enter into second 
espousals during the life of his former partner. This 
is the inflexible law she first proclaimed in the face 
of Pagan emperors and people, and which she has 
ever upheld, in spite of the passions and voluptuous- 
ness of her own rebellious children. 

Henry VIIL, once an obedient son and defender 
of the Church, conceived, in an evil hour, a criminal 
attachment for Anne Boleyn, a lady of the queen's 
household, whom he desired to marry after being 
divorced from his lawful consort, Catherine of Arra- 
gon. But Pope Clement VII., whose sanction he so- 
licited, sternly refused to ratify the separation, though 
the Pontiff could have easily foreseen that his de- 
termined action would involve the Church in perse- 
cution, and a whole nation in the unhappy schism 
of its ruler. Had the Pope acquiesced in the repu- 
diation of Catherine, and in the marriage of Anne 
Boleyn, England indued Avould have been spared 
to the Church, but the Church herself would hav^ 
surrendered her peerless title of Mistress cf Truth. 

When Napoleon I. repudiated his devoted wife, 
Josephine, and married Marie Louise of Austria, so 
well assured was he of the fruitlessness of his at- 
tempt to obtain from the Ploly See the sanction of 
his divorce and subsequent marriage, that he did not 
even consult the Holy Father on the subject. 



MATRIMONY. 429 

A few years previously, Napoleon appealed to 
Pins VII. to annul the marriage which his brother 
Jerome had contracted with Miss Patterson of Bal- 
timore. The Pope sent the following reply to the 
Emperor : '^ Your majesty will understand that upon 
the information thus far receiyed by us, it is not in our 
power to pronounce a sentence of nullity. We can- 
not utter a judgment in opposition to the rules of 
the Church, and we could not, without laying aside 
those rules, decree the invalidity of a union which, 
according to the Word of God, no human power can 
sunder." 

Christian wives and mothers, what gratitude you 
owe to the Catholic Church for the honorable 
position you now hold in society ! If you are no 
longer regarded as the slave, but the equal of your 
husband ; if you are no longer the toy of his caprice, 
and liable to be discarded at any moment, like the 
women of Turkey and the Mormon wiv^es of Utah ; 
but if you are recognized as the mistress and queen 
of your household, you owe your emancipation to 
the Church. You are especially indebted for your 
liberty to the Popes who rose up in all the majesty 
of their spiritual power to vindicate the rights of 
injured wiyes against the lustful tyranny of ibeir 
husbands. 

How opposite is the conduct of the fathers of the 
so-called Reformation, who, with the cry of religious 
reform on their lips, deformed religion and society 
by sanctioning divorce. 



430 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

Henry VIII. wa^^ divorced from his wife, Cathe- 
rine, by Cranmer, the first Reformed Primate of 
England. 

Luther and his colleagues, Melanehthon and Bucer, 
permitted Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, to have two 
wives at the same time.^ 

Karlstadt, another German Reformer, justified 
polygamy." 

And modern Prussia is reaping the bitter fruits 
of the seeds that were then sown within its borders. 
Seventy-five per cent, of the marriages now con- 
tracted outside of the Catholic Church in Berlin, 
are performed without any religious ceremony what- 
ever. A union not bound by the strong ties of re- 
ligion is easily dissolved. 

This subject excites a painful interest in our own 
country, in consequence of the facility with which 
divorce from the marriage bond is obtained in many 
of our States. .We have here another exemplifica- 
tion of the dangerous consequences attending a pri- 
vate interpretation of the sacred text. When Luther 
and Calvin proclaimed to the world that " it was 
not wise to prohibit the divorced adulterer from 
marrying again/'^ they little dreamed of the fruitful 

* Lossuet, Variations, Vol. I. ^ Audin, p. 339. 

^ American Cyclop., art. Divorce. Our Saviour declarer 
that he who marrieth an adulteress, committeth adultery. Yet 
Luther and Calvin declare that it is unwise to oppose such a 
marriage. But " the foolishness of God is wiser than men.'' 
And Wisdom has said: "I will destroy the wisdom of tha 
wise." (I. Cor. i.) 



MATRIMOlSrY. 431 

progeny which was destined before long to spring 
from this isolated monster of their creation. There 
are already about thirty causes which allow th^ con- 
jugal tie to be broken, some of which are uf s# 
trifling a nature as to provoke merriment, were it 
not for the gravity of the subject, which is well cal- 
culated to excite alarm for the moral and social 
welfare of our country. 

Persons are divorced by the courts not only for 
infidelity, but also without even the shadow vf Scrip- 
ture authority, for alleged cruelty, intemperance, 
desertion, prolonged absence, mental incaj^^.city, sen- 
tence to the penitentiary, incompatibility ( f temper 
and such other causes as the court, in its discretion 
may deem sufficient. 

For the year ending June, 1874, seventeen hun- 
dred and forty-two applications for divorce wer( 
presented in the State of Ohio. An J if such is 
Ohio's record, what must be the matrimonial con 
dition of Indiana, which is called the paradise of 
discontented spouses. 

In Connecticut there were, in 1875, four thousand 
three hundred and eighty-five marriages, and four 
hundred and sixty-six divorces from the marriage 
bond. The number of divorces obtained in the 
same State during the last fifteen years, has reached 
five thousand three hundred and ninety-one. And 
this is the record of a State whose public school 
system is considered the most thorough and perfect 



432 THE lAITH OF OUR FATHERS. 

in the country. The statistics given of Ohio ana 
Connecticut will enable us to form some idea of the 
fearful catalogue of divorces annually obtained in 
the United States. 

There are some who regard the Catholic Church 
as too severe in proclaiming the absolute indissolu- 
bility of marriage. But it should be borne in mind, 
that it is not the Church, but the divine Founder of 
the Christian religion, that has given us the law. 
She merely enforces its observance. 

But the law, how rigorous soever, is mercy itself, 
when compared with the cruel consequences which 
follow from the easy concession of divorce. 

The facility with which marriage is annulled is 
most injurious to the morals of individuals, of the 
family, and of society. 

It leads to ill-assorted and hasty marriages, be- 
cause persons are less circumspect in making a com- 
pact which may be afterwards dissolved almost at will. 
It stimulates a discontented and uuprincipled husband 
or wife to lawlessness, quarrels, aud even adultery. 
well knowing that the very crime will afford a pre- 
text aud legal grounds for a separation. It en^ 
genders between husband and wife fierce litigations 
about the custody of their offspring. It deprives 
fihe children of the protecting arm of a father, or 
the gentle care of a mother, and too frequently con- 
signs them to the cold charity of the world ; for the 
married couple who are wanting in conjugal love for 
one another are too often also destitute of parental 



MATKIMONY. 433 

affection. In a word, it brings into the household a 
blight and desolation which neither wealth nor lux- 
ury can repair. 

There is but one remedy to this social distemper ; 
and that is an absolute prohibition of divorce a vin 
ciilo, in accordance with the inflexible rule of the 
Gospel and of the ancient Church. In Catholic 
countries dirorces are exceedingly rare, and are ob- 
tained only by such as have thrown off the yoke of 
the Church. And if the sacred laws of Matrimony 
Rre still happily observed by so large a portion of 
the Protestant community, the purity of morals is in 
no small measure due to the presence among them 
of the Catholic religion, which exercises a beneficial 
influence even over those who are outside the pale 
of her communion, like the sun, whose benignant 
light and heat are felt even in those secluded spots 
which his rays can but dimly penetrate, 
87 2C 



LSI) EX. 



A BSTTNENCE, on Friday, 18. 

Aposties, authority given to, 20. 
Apostolicity, falseness of Protestant 

claims to, 66. 

roved by early Fathers, 68. 

D APTISM, sacrament of, 265. 
^ Infant, 265. 

Necessity of, 267. 

Effects of, 272. 

Modes of, 274. 
Bartholomew, St., facts concerning 

massacre of, 254. 
Bible, how used by the Jews, 94. 

Christ's teaching concerning, 96. 

Christ did not intend dissemina- 
tion of, 98. 

Protestant theory and practice at 
variance concerning, 99. 

Protestan ts cannot accept as suffi- 
cient guide, 100. 

Not accessible to primitive Chris- 
tians, 102. 

Difficulties of interpreting, l;i4. 

Consequences of private inter- 
pretation of, 105. 

All truths necessary to be be- 
lieved not found in, 108. 

The Church the guardian of, 
109. 

Popes the guardians of, 110. 

First editions of, 111. 

Use made by Catholics of, 112. 

pARROLL, CHARLES, friend of 



\J 



religious liberty, 2o3. 



Catholicity, not found outside of 
the Roman Church, 50. 



Celibacy, of clergy, 410. 
Christ and His Apostles approve, 

411. 
Ancient discipline concerning, 

413. 
Propriety and advantages of, 414. 
Objections answered as to, 418. 
Ceremonies, dictated by reason, 
322. 
Approved by God in Old Law, 

324. 
Sanctioned by Christ in Ne'\7 

Law, 325. 
Acknowledged influence of, S28, 
Of the Mass, 320. 
Church, marks of true, 21, 
Unity of, 21. 
Figures of, 23. 

Holiness of, 33. , 

Catholicity of, 48. 
Numerical strength of, 54. 
Apostolicity of, 56. 
Departure of Protestants from 

teachings of primitive, 58. 
Perpetuity of, 60. 
Indestructibility of, 70, 
Futility of schemes for destruc- 
tion of, 76. 
Infallible authority of, 82. 
Bible and, 94. 

Present state in Europe of, 237. 
Communion, under one kind, 298. 
Under one kind, Luther's teach- 
ing as to, 300. 
Under one kind, practioe of early 
Church as to, 302. 
Confession, necessity and advan- 
tages of, 350. 

435 



436 



INDEX. 



Confession, the origin of, 356. 
Protestant teaching with regard 
to, 360. 
Confirmation, sacrament of, 277. 
Testimony of early Fathers as 

to, 280. 
Protestant, 283. 
Council, of Trent, 46. 

Vatican, 53. 
Councils, number of Ecumenical, 

133. 
Cross, veneration and early use of, 
19. 

"HEAD, prayers for, 205. 

The Old Testament sanctions 
prayers for, 206. 
Christ sanctions prayers for, 207. 
Teaching of the Fathers as to 

prayers for, 209. 
The ancient Liturgies contain 

prayers for, 214. 
The eastern sects all use prayers 

for, 215. 
The Jews, even to this day, use 

prayers for, 216. 
Divorce, Church's teaching as to, 

425. 
Of Henry VIII., 428. 
Of Napoleon, 428. 
A Reformer sanctioned, 430. 
Alarming frequency of, 430. 
Evils of facility in obtaining, 

432. 
Dogma, new definitions of, 28. 

ELIZABETH, persecutions un- 
der, 257. 
Eucharist, Holy, 284. 
Promise of, 285. 
Institution of, 289. 



Eucharist, apostolic teaching as to, 
293. 
The Father's teaching as to, 295. 



F 



AITH, progress in, 31. 
Flowers, use of, 338. 



nOD, nature and attributes of, 17. 

^ Grace, 26 . 

Guide, characteristics of a sure, 102. 

TLLEGITIMACY, in Catholic and 
-^ Protestant countries, 381. 
Images, veneration of, 189. 

First crusade against, 190. 

Teaching of the Church as to, 192. 

Teaching of Leibnitz (Protestant) 
as to, 193. 

A Protestant theologian's defence 
of, 196. 

Advantages of, 198 
Incense, use of, 338. 
Indulgences, 384. 

Authority of Scripture for, 385. 

Pope Leo's Bull of, 390. 

Protestants promise, 392. 

Council of Trent on, 393. 
Infallibility, of Church, proved 
from Scripture, 84. 

Consequences of denying, 89. 

Meaning of, 91. 

Explanation of term "Papal," 
140. 

An official prerogative, 142. 

Scripture grounds for, 145. 

Acts of Councils indicate the 
Pope's, H8. 

Instances of the exercise of, 152. 

The Pope the true source of, 154. 

Objections answered as to, 154. 



INDEX. 



437 



Inquisition, Spanish, 2.41. 

Church not responsible for cruel- 
ties of, 248. 

Origin and true nature of, 248. 

Apolitical institute, 250. 

Catholic prelates under ban of, 
252. 

Popes thwarted the operations 
of, 253. 

Popes protected fugitives from, 
254. 
Invocation, of Saints, 176. 

T AFA YETTE, friend of religious 
^ liberty, 233. 
Latin, why Church uses, 332. 
Leibnitz, on confession, 371. 
On extreme unction, 396. 
Liberty, religious and civil, 221. 
Catholic doctrine as to, 222. 
Council of Toledo on religious, 

223. 
Fenelon's letter on religious, 224. 
The great theologian Becanus on, 

226. 
Church defends civil, 227. 
St. Ambrose champion of civil, 

228. 
Maryland the only colony that 

tolerated religious, 229. 
Decree of General Assembly of 

Maryland as to, 231. 
Distinguished Catholic defenders 
of, 233. 
Lights* use of, 336. 
Luther, sanctioned polygamy, 430. 

MAGNA CHARTA, work of 
Catholics, 229. 
Maryland, home of religious liber- 
ty, 229. 
37* 



Mass, sacrifice of, 306. 

Meaning of word, 311. 

What it is, 312. 

Apostolic origin of, 315. 

Sacrifice of thanksgiving and 
propitiation, 319. 

Ceremonies of, 329 
Matrimony, sacrament of, 421. 

Christ's teaching as to, 424. 

Apostles' teaching as to, 426. 

Indissoluble, 426. 
Missal, the, 330. 

Morality, between Catholics and 
Protestants, relative, 380. 

IVfAPOLEON, why an enemy of 

■^ the Church, 236. 
Divorce of, 428. 

PENANCE, divine institution of 
342. 
Persecution, Pwcformers instituted. 
243. 
Puritans instituted, 245. 
Ever-existing social, 246. 
Under Mary and Elizabeth, 257. 
Peter, primacy of, 113. 

First Bishop of Eome, 126. 
Pius IX., 173. 
Pope, supremacy of, 128. 
The world converted by emissa- 
ries of, 134. 
Infallibility of, 140. 
Relations between General Coun- 
cils and, 148. 
Temporal ^ower of, 157. 
Power, how the Popes acquired 
temporal, 157. 
Validity and justice of Pope'c 

temporal, 164. 
Pope's use of, 165. 



438 



INDEX. 



Purgatory, 205. 

St. Paul's teaching concerning, 
207. 
Puritans, iutolerance of, 232. 
Priesthood, dignity of, 397. 

Titles of, 401. 

Obligations of, 406. 
Primacy, 113. 

Proofs from Old Testament of, 
114. 

Proofs from political and social 
economy, 115. 

Eflfects of the absence of, 117. 

Promise of, 1 18. 

Fulfilment of promise of, 120. 

Exercise of, 122. 

Objections answered, as to, 124. 

"DEFORMATION, mode of effect- 
-*-*' ing true, 45. 
Reformers, true, 46. 

False, 47. 
Rome, Peter first Bishop of, 126. 

What the Popes have done for, 
171. 
Rousseau, on confession, 371. 

C ACRAMENTS, the seven, 261. 
•^ Saints, invocation of, 177. 
Saints, ScripVure teaching regard- 
ing, 179. 
Assist us by prayers, 181. 
We are remembered by, 184. 
We do not dishonor God by iu- 
TokiDg« 188. 



Sanctity, motives of, 35. 
Fruits of, 40. 
Means of, 38. 
Occasional scandals do not impair 

the Church's, 45. 
Sects, origin of various Protesiiinl, 

62. 
Tabular statistics regarding, 05. 
Sin, original, 262. 
Power conferred by Christ of 

remitting, 847. 
Teaching of the Fathers, as to 

remission of. 350. 
Supremacy, of Pope, 128. 
Historical evidence of Pope's, 

129. 
Early Fathers declare Pope's, 132. 
Ecumenical Councils declare 

Pope's, 133. 
Striking historical point as to, 

134. 

TTNCTION, extreme, 394. 

^ Apostle St. James and the 

early Fathers esjoin, 394. 
Unity, see Church. 
Not impaired by doctrinal defi- 
nitions, 28. 

TTESTMENTS, use of, 339. 
^ Virginity, Christ's predilection 

for, 411. 
Voltaire, on confession, 371. 



WATER, HOLY, use of, 829 



THE END. 



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